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Following is a question by the Hon Wu Chi-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (June 25):
Question:
Regarding the flight paths and runway capacity of the Hong Kong International Airport, as well as the management of the Pearl River Delta airspace, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) when considering the introduction of new flight paths for aircraft arrivals and departures, what constraints (other than the considerations of noise nuisances to nearby residents arising from aircraft using such flight paths and the terrain constraints) faced by the authorities, and whether they have explored solutions to such constraints; whether they have assessed by how much the runway capacity of the Hong Kong International Airport will increase as a result of the introduction of new flight paths; if they have assessed, of the findings; and
(b) as it has been reported that under the current management arrangements of the Pearl River Delta airspace, aircraft approaching or departing from Hong Kong must enter and leave Hong Kong's airspace at a height of over 15 000 feet, and such height limit has restricted the runway capacity of the Hong Kong International Airport, whether the Civil Aviation Department will discuss with the authorities of the Mainland and Macao, through the tripartite working group established with the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Macao Civil Aviation Authority, the relaxation or even abolition of such a height limit; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply
President,
Our reply to the various parts of the Hon Wu Chi-wai's question is as follows:
(a) In accordance with the international standards and recommendations promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in addition to terrain environment and environmental factors such as noise, the development of flight paths should take into account the runway alignment, aircraft operating criteria (for example, the flying speed), the prescribed obstacle clearances, location of navigation aids, airspace coordination with nearby airports, etc.
The existing arrival and departure flight paths of the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) were developed after giving careful considerations to all relevant factors. In the light of the new navigational specifications promulgated by the ICAO, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) formulated a new set of flight procedures last year, under which aircraft meeting the relevant navigational specifications may use a new arrival flight path via West Lamma Channel since December 2013, thereby obviating the need to overfly populated areas.
Runway capacity of an airport is affected by a host of factors, including the standard separation between aircraft, the peripheral airspace, the terrain and the operating environment, the aircraft mix at HKIA and the airport's infrastructure. To prepare for the Hong Kong International Airport Master Plan 2030, the Airport Authority Hong Kong commissioned the National Air Traffic Services (NATS), an aviation consultancy in the United Kingdom, to conduct a study on the runway capacity of the HKIA. The study was completed in 2008. Based on the ICAO's standards, NATS had carefully analysed factors including the surrounding terrain, the operating environment, the infrastructure and the airspace of the HKIA, and concluded that the practical maximum capacity of the two runways of the HKIA was 68 movements per hour. The conclusion was endorsed by the CAD.
Over the years, through continuously making improvements to the flight procedures and operations, optimising airspace structure, increasing the manpower of air traffic controllers and upgrading infrastructural facilities at the airfield, the CAD has gradually increased the runway capacity of the two runways of the HKIA in accordance with air traffic demand, from 50 movements per hour in 2004 to the current 65 per hour. The CAD will continue to further increase the capacity of the two runways to their practical maximum capacity of 68 movements per hour in 2015.
(b) To ensure that aircraft in adjacent airspaces could operate in a safe and efficient manner, an aircraft must reach a certain altitude before an air traffic control (ATC) unit may hand over the control in respect of that aircraft to another ATC unit. This arrangement for air traffic management seeks to ensure flight safety, and is commonly applied across boundaries between other busy airspaces. This arrangement has no direct relationship with the space separation between runway movements, and hence does not affect runway capacity.
Given the close proximity between HKIA and its Shenzhen counterpart and the fact that the two airports are respectively managed by the two air traffic management units in Hong Kong and the Mainland, an aircraft departing from HKIA must reach the designated handover altitude of 15 700 feet before it can enter the Mainland's airspace. This designated altitude requirement is also applicable to aircraft flying from the Mainland into Hong Kong's airspace. After liaison with the Mainland's ATC unit, the two sides have since 2005 lowered the handover altitude from 15 700 feet to 12 800 feet during specified non-peak hours at night (that is, from 11pm to 7am the following day), thereby minimising detours by aircraft.
In 2004, the CAD, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao set up the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Region Air Traffic Management Planning and Implementation Supervisory Group (the Tripartite Working Group) to discuss ways to rationalise the use of airspace and air traffic management in the PRD region. After deliberations by the Tripartite Working Group, a comprehensive plan has been devised to rationalise airspace design and planning, and air traffic management in the PRD region, including the establishment of additional handover points, the optimisation of the relevant flight procedures, flight paths and provision of systems, restructure of the airspace, gradual standardisation of air traffic management standards, etc. Through the Tripartite Working Group, the CAD will continue to explore with the air traffic control authorities in the Mainland to further rationalise the airspace management in the PRD region, including the arrangement for air traffic management mentioned above.
Ends/Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Issued at HKT 12:00
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