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LCQ8:Delay in taking off or landing of flights
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    Following is the question by the Hon Howard Young and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, in the Legislative Council today (November 29):

Question:

     It has been reported that due to the implementation of air traffic flow control by the airport authorities in Guangzhou and Hangzhou on the 25th day of last month, a number of flights from Hong Kong overflying the Mainland were delayed in taking off.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of flights from Hong Kong which were delayed in taking off in the past three years due to the implementation of air traffic flow control by the Mainland authorities; and the percentage of this number among all the flights which were delayed in taking off in the period;

(2) whether it has projected the number of flights overflying the Mainland which will take off or land in Hong Kong in the coming five years and, among them, the number of flights which will experience delay in taking off or landing caused by air traffic flow control by the Mainland authorities; if it has, of the projected figures; and

(3) of the measures to reduce the delay in taking off or landing of flights caused by air traffic flow control by the Mainland authorities, including whether it has discussed with the Mainland authorities ways to enhance the co-ordination of the air traffic management; if it has, of the details?

Reply:

Madam President,

(1) According to statistics kept by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD), 973, 1,733 and 2,996 departure flights were delayed respectively in 2004, 2005 and 2006 (January to October) due to air traffic flow control by the Mainland authorities.  The CAD does not keep data on delayed flights to destinations other than the Mainland, as its experience in the past few years showed that only an insignificant proportion of such flights were delayed.

(2) At present, of some 780 flights to or out of the Hong Kong International Airport each day, about 49% overfly the Mainland.  However, the CAD does not have any projected figure for the number of flights that will overfly the Mainland nor the number that will experience delay in taking off or landing in Hong Kong in the next five years.

(3) The civil aviation authorities of Hong Kong, the Mainland and Macao are fully aware of the challenges associated with rationalising and optimising the efficient use of the limited Pearl River Delta (PRD) airspace.  In this connection, the CAD, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) and the Macao Civil Aviation Authority (CAAM) established a tripartite working group in February 2004 to improve the use of airspace and the co-ordination of air traffic management in the PRD Region, including optimisation of regional airspace design; standardisation of interface and protocols of air traffic control systems; and the establishment of additional air routes for civil aviation between the Pearl River Delta Region and the northern and the eastern parts of the Mainland.  For example, through the efforts of the tripartite working group, a new handover point between the Guangzhou and the Hong Kong Flight Information Regions will be established in December 2006 to cater for flights overflying Hong Kong and landing in Guangzhou.  This will ease the burden on the existing handover point for flights to and from northern China.  CAD will continue to discuss and coordinate with the Mainland and Macao aviation authorities to rationalise and optimise the use of airspace in the PRD Region.  

Ends/Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:09

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