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Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Leung and the reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (June 17):
Question:
Some members of the aviation industry have relayed to me that in recent years, the manpower in air traffic management (ATM) has been grossly inadequate to cope with the workload under inclement weather conditions or during the implementation of air traffic flow control (ATFC) by the Mainland authorities, thus putting such personnel under enormous pressure. Regarding ATM in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the notification mechanism established between the Civil Aviation Department and the civil aviation authorities of the Mainland on the implementation of ATFC;
(2) whether it has assessed the impact of the implementation of ATFC by the Mainland on ATM of Hong Kong, including whether ATM of Hong Kong is smooth, and whether the current manpower responsible for such task is sufficient to deal with sudden changes in air traffic flow; and
(3) whether the authorities have, in response to the problems posed to ATM of Hong Kong by the implementation of ATFC by the Mainland and having regard to the expansion plan of the Hong Kong International Airport, conducted a comprehensive study on the human resources for ATM, including issues such as recruitment, training, remuneration packages, etc. of the personnel, in order to dovetail with and promote the long-term development of the aviation industry?
Reply:
Acting President,
My consolidated reply to the questions raised by the Hon Kenneth Leung is as follows.
According to the definition of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), air traffic control (ATC) service is the navigation service provided by air traffic controllers on the ground to coordinate aircraft operations at designated air routes and altitudes, thereby avoiding conflicts and maintaining safe and orderly flow of air traffic. The Civil Aviation Department (CAD) is responsible for ATC in Hong Kong.
The term "air traffic flow control measure" as stated in the Hon Leung's question, which is usually known as "flow control" for short, is in fact one kind of ATC measures. When an airport is subject to unusual situations such as inclement weather, airway or airspace restrictions in adjacent airspace, air traffic volume exceeding the handling capacity of an ATC unit during a particular point of time, etc, the relevant ATC unit may consider implementing flow control, i.e. to reduce the number of aircraft entering its airspace during a particular period of time, to ensure the ATC unit have the capacity to maintain safe and orderly aircraft operations within its airspace. When encountering the abovementioned unusual situations, the ATC units in different parts of the world, including Hong Kong, will consider the need for implementing flow control having regard to the actual operational needs of their airports, and their own handling capacity.
When the Mainland ATC unit imposes flow control, depending on its effective time and area of coverage, it may lead to delay in landing and take-off for flights operating between the Mainland and Hong Kong. According to the definition of the International Air Transport Association, flight delay refers to the situation where the actual time of flight arriving at or departing from the aircraft parking stand is delayed by 15 minutes or more from the time allocated by the CAD. Last year (i.e. 2014), the number of delayed flights departing from Hong Kong to the Mainland (including flights overflying the Mainland or destined for landing on the Mainland) that were delayed due to the Mainland flow control accounted for about 3.7 per cent of the total number of flights departing from Hong Kong to the Mainland. The figure in 2012 and 2013 is 3.3 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively.
The CAD has all along been maintaining close communication and exchanging important real-time information with the relevant parties, including the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), ATC units of the adjacent airspace, airlines, etc, in order to coordinate the contingency responses of the parties concerned to ensure smooth operation of cargo and passenger flights during the various unusual situations of the Hong Kong International Airport.
Similar to the practice of ATC units in other parts of the world, there is an established flow control coordination and notification mechanism between the CAD and Mainland ATC unit. When one of the ATC units needs to implement flow control in its airspace due to unusual situations, the ATC unit concerned will immediately notify the other ATC unit directly via a designated direct line, so that the latter would be able to make necessary coordination and contingency arrangements. In addition, the CAD and the Mainland ATC unit will hold ATC coordination meetings from time to time to review the relevant ATC operating procedures, and the flow control coordination and notification mechanism having regard to the daily actual operational experience of both places.
The CAD and AAHK implemented the Airport Collaborative Decision Making data sharing platform in 2012 to facilitate the sharing of real-time information on the airport and ATC, including details of the arrival and departure flights, allocation of aircraft parking stands, the conditions of the airfield, and meteorological information, among airlines, ground handling agents, and aircraft maintenance organisations, etc. The platform seeks to allow various stakeholders to make necessary arrangements, thereby enhancing the overall operations of the airport. In April this year, AAHK has further enhanced the functions of the platform and expanded the scope of information for sharing, including information of the Mainland flights, enhancing the connectivity of the platform with the database, thereby enabling all relevant stakeholders to make well-informed decisions more quickly and effectively.
As regards the ATC manpower, the CAD would arrange sufficient personnel to provide ATC services no matter under normal or unusual situations. At present, there are about 180 ATC personnel holding ATC licences responsible for the provision of routine ATC services. There are about 30 other ATC personnel currently responsible for discharging other duties but holding ATC licences and could provide back-up support at any time. In order to maintain uninterrupted ATC service round the clock, there are 35 to 40 ATC personnel on duty at any time. The CAD will deploy personnel who are off from duty to provide back-up support whenever situation warrants so as to strengthen the ATC contingency operations and handling capacity momentarily. The CAD has also made reference to the practices of overseas ATC units, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, and formulated a rest arrangement for ATC personnel during their work period, under which ATC personnel are given a 30-minute rest time for every two hours of work. The arrangement seeks to ensure their working performance not be affected by over-fatigue.
The CAD has been attaching paramount importance to maintaining ATC safety, and has high requirements on the professional competency of the ATC personnel. ATC personnel usually need to receive five to six years of in-service training during probation. ATC licences are renewed every two years, and ATC personnel need to pass the relevant examinations in order to obtain renewed licences. In the past five years, CAD has carried out three recruitment exercises of Student Air Traffic Control Officers (SATCO), with 3 000 to 4 000 applications received each round. Over 90 personnel were recruited in total during the last three recruitment exercises. The CAD will continue to recruit ATC personnel regularly having regard to the growth of air traffic volume, vacancy of SATCO grade, and the attrition rate of the Air Traffic Control Officers, and conduct reviews as and when appropriate.
Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:37
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