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The Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, yesterday (November 20) signed an Air Services Agreement on behalf of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah.
Representing the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was Eng. Abdullah Rehaimi, President of the Civil Aviation Authority of Saudi Arabia.
With its strategic location in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is an important emerging market in Hong Kong's overall aviation network. At present, two airlines are operating five flights per week between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, and a total of 13 carriers are operating some 110 weekly passenger and cargo services between Hong Kong and nine destinations in the Middle East.
"The Air Services Agreement signed today provides the legal framework for operation of air services between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia and helps the airlines of the two places to plan further expansion of services," Mr Ip said.
"To further develop Hong Kong as a preferred transportation and logistics hub, we will continue to liberalise our air services regime and negotiate more new air services agreements with our aviation partners. These agreements, including the one we sign today, also provide valuable opportunities for Hong Kong and foreign airlines to expand their services," Mr Ip added.
The Air Services Agreement with Saudi Arabia is the 8th agreement Hong Kong has concluded with aviation partners in the Middle East, and the 55th with all overseas aviation partners.
Hong Kong has signed Air Services Agreements with Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the USA and Vietnam.
Ends/Monday, November 21, 2005
Issued at HKT 10:59
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