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Following is a question by the Hon David Li Kwok-po and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (February 11):
Question:
The Civil Aviation Department (CAD) monitors aircraft noise and flight tracks by means of the Aircraft Noise and Flight Track Monitoring System (ANFTMS). When the wind is from the east or northeast, aircraft will depart from the Hong Kong International Airport towards the northeast until it reaches Ma Wan where, depending on flight destinations, it may turn south over West Lamma Channel, or proceed to the southeast. With regard to aircraft taking off towards the northeast, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of incidents in which departing aircraft deviated from the set flight paths within the territory and took a short-cut flight path in each of the past five years;
(b) of the names of the three airline companies with the highest percentages of flights which took a short-cut flight path in each of the past five years;
(c) of the follow-up actions CAD takes on incidents of aircraft taking a short-cut flight path; whether CAD took any escalated action against repeat offenders in the past five years; if so, of the details; and
(d) whether ANFTMS provides a full and accurate assessment of the impact of aircraft noise on residential areas within 3,000 metres from either side of the aforesaid two flight paths; if so, of the details; if not, whether it has plans to improve the system?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Government is mindful of the impact of aircraft operations on the local community, and has implemented a number of aircraft noise mitigating measures to alleviate the disturbance caused by these operations, especially during night time. One of the measures is to require aircraft to follow designated flight paths, including those quoted in the question, to avoid flights over populated areas as far as practicable.
To further enhance the noise mitigating effect, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) has, since January 1999, required aircraft taking off in the northeast direction between 11pm and 7am to turn south upon reaching the northeast corner of Lantau Island and use the southbound route via the West Lamma Channel (the West Lamma route). Subject to flight safety and air traffic operations not being affected, the requirement is to avoid flying over Tsing Yi, the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island.
Since the implementation of the above measure, CAD's Aircraft Noise and Flight Track Monitoring System (ANFTMS), which records the flight track of every aircraft landing and taking off at the Hong Kong International Airport, has been monitoring aircraft performance in following the West Lamma route during the prescribed period of time. The numbers of incidents in the past five years in which departing aircraft deviated from this route and took a short-cut are set out in the following table:
Year Number of incidents of departing aircraft
deviating from the West Lamma flight route and
taking a short-cut
2004 12
2005 20
2006 5
2007 9
2008 0
(b) The names of the three airlines with the highest percentages of aircraft which deviated from the West Lamma route and took a short-cut in the past five years are set out in the following table:
Year Airlines
2004 Lufthansa German Airlines, Evergreen
International Airlines, Kalitta Air
2005 Alitalia, All Nippon Airways, Evergreen
International Airlines
2006 Cargolux Airlines International, Evergreen
International Airlines, Shanghai Airlines
2007 ACT Airlines INC., Garuda Indonesia, Saudi
Arabian Airlines
2008 Not applicable
(c) CAD has been closely monitoring the compliance by aircraft with the noise mitigating measures. When an aircraft is found to have deviated from the designated flight paths, CAD will generally issue a letter to the airline concerned requiring it to investigate the incident and remind its pilots of the need to comply with the relevant aircraft noise mitigating measures. If an airline is found to have been involved in such incidents repeatedly, CAD will require the airline to submit a detailed report, setting out the concrete measures taken by the airline to avoid recurrence of similar incidents.
From 2004 to 2008, four airlines were found to have been involved repeatedly in incidents of deviation from the West Lamma route and taking a short-cut. These were followed up by CAD accordingly and significant improvements were seen within a short period of time.
(d) The ANFTMS includes 16 noise monitoring terminals measuring the aircraft noise impact on all major residential areas in the vicinity of the landing and departure flight paths. CAD regularly reviews the performance of the system, and is satisfied that the current coverage of the noise monitoring terminals is sufficient to produce a reliable assessment of the impact on all major residential developments in Hong Kong which are affected by aircraft noise, including those within 3,000 metres on either side of the relevant flight paths. CAD will continue to review the situation and consider installing additional terminals where necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the ANFTMS.
Ends/Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:31
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