Hong Kong eyes Greater Bay Area as airport city

Hong Kong is banking on the strategic development of Hong Kong International Airport into an airport city and the vast economic potential of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao greater Bay Area to boost the city's economic growth and ascend to greater prosperity, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on August 20. Airport Authority Hong Kong has launched a strategic development blueprint to promote transforming HKIA from a city airport to an airport city that would serve as a new commercial landmark for the territory, Chan said in his blog. The airport will no longer be just a place for passengers to enter, exit or transit, but will combine aerobatic and other economic functions to become a commercial landmark or even a leisure resort, so that more economic activities can be driven at the airport, he said. Chan said the 25-hectare SKYCITY commercial development project just a stones throw from the airport is important to the building of an airport city. With a total floor area of 35,300 square meters, the projects highlight 11 SKIES, which will offer a variety of innovative entertainment, retail and dining options, as well as commercial offices to develop medical, healthcare, financial and other services. The second phase of the adjacent Asia World-Expo will also offer an advanced stage venue with more than 20,000 seats and more exhibition facilities when it becomes operational. SKYCITY will be an important tourist facility and contribute to Hong Kong's overall tourism economy, Chan said. Also, there are fresh growth prospects in the greater Bay Area. With a population of almost 87 million, and a gross domestic product per capita exceeding $22,000, the region is a big source of tourist spending, with a global population of nearly 87 million. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 14 million passengers from the Great Bay Areas 11-city cluster used HKIA annually for travel around the world. HKIA has built a close, multi-dimensional sea, land and air transport network with the entire Greater Bay Area through the completion of numerous large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. In the future, we will further optimize the network and operation of multimodal transport, fully utilizing Hong Kongs status as the regional aviation hub of the Greater Bay Area, and become the gateway of choice for mainland and international tourists traveling to and from the Greater Bay Area, the finance chief said. transit passengers crossing the HZMB to HKIA can go to the airports restricted area and board their aircraft without having to go through immigration procedures in the SAR. Airport Authority Hong Kong will further expand the airports waiting network in cities on the Chinese mainland, increasing the number of such outlets from the current 19-30. The sector's new operations model in freight logistics has also provided new sources of growth for HKIA in recent years. With online shopping becoming a major trend worldwide, this new business model has a high degree of quality and is most beneficial to expensive commodities like fresh food and medicines, creating huge opportunities for the airfreight industry. Last year, Hong Kong's air cargo volume reached 4.2 million tons, accounting for just 2% of the total freight handling, but contributing 48% to the city's total trade value. It can be seen that high-value and high-end air cargo logistics is a sector we must fully seize on and whose services must be continuously improved, Chan said. The Central Asia Hub project has been in operation since March this year, under the leadership of Airport Authority Hong Kong and the global express cargo carrier DHL. The capacity of the project's automated cargo handling system has surged by 50%, to 1.06 million metric tons per year. The high-end logistics center, built and managed by Cainiao Network, will also be put into operation this year and would be able to handle an additional 1.7 million metric tons of air cargo annually. Airport Authority Hong Kong is further working with Dongguan to develop a new sea air cargo intermodal transport model that would enable security checks, as well as packing, palletizing and receiving procedures for mainland exports, to be completed in Dongguan before the freight is directly transported to HKIA by sea and immediately transferred to all parts of the world. This would lower operating costs by about half and reduce loading and unloading time by one third. It's a win-win arrangement and can enhance the freight competitiveness of the entire Greater Bay Area, Chan said. The pace of recovery in Hong Kong's air sector has been good, he said. He expects HKIA passenger traffic to rebound to about 80% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year and fully recover next year. HKIA now has more than 110 airlines operating flights to and from 165 destinations worldwide, reaching 75% of pre-pandemic levels. It is crucial to fill the manpower gap in the airline industry to support its recovery, Chan said. 28 companies have approved the first round of applications for new personnel in the aerospace sector, with more than 2,800 positions filled, including ground staff, ramp attendants, and aircraft maintenance techs. The employees are expected to arrive in Hong Kong from October this year. By the end of 2024, HKIA's three-runway system will be completed, Chan said. By then, the airports passenger flight handling capacity would increase significantly by about 50%, receiving 120 million passengers a year.