Mainland-bound coach passengers enjoy special new facilities at HKIA

(HONG KONG, 20 February 2003) - Passengers connecting with buses to the Pearl River Delta (PRD) can now enjoy the facilities of a dedicated coach terminal at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

The Airport-Mainland Coach Station was officially opened today, featuring a waiting lounge and sheltered bays for 10 coaches. The comfortable 230-sqm lounge has seats for 72 passengers, and has its own toilets, vending machines and LCD screens displaying coach departure information. It is tastefully decorated with indoor plants and images of Hong Kong International Airport.

The coach station is located at ground level in the former Car Park 3, at the northern end of the Arrivals Hall. It has elevator access for passengers with baggage trolleys or in wheelchairs. Passengers can purchase tickets for the Mainland services at the coach operators' counters opposite Exit A in the Arrivals Hall before proceeding to board coaches in the new coach station.

Today's opening ceremony was officiated by Airport Authority A Chief Executive Officer Dr David J Pang; The Hon Miriam Lau who represents the Transport Functional Constituency in the Legislative Council; and Hong Kong’s Commissioner for Transport, Mr Robert Footman.

Dr Pang said the new facilities showed how HKIA had become an integrator of different modes of transportation: "For every single passenger who passes through HKIA, the journey neither begins nor ends here.

"Whether they are arriving in Hong Kong and need to travel downtown by bus or Airport Express, or whether they are going to the Mainland or other destinations, this airport is the integrator of different modes of transportation. It is our goal to make each one of those journeys as pleasant, convenient and hassle-free as possible.

"It's also a substantial indicator of how HK's economy is merging with that of the Pearl River Delta," he said.

Dr Pang said the coach station is a small but important step to meet the rapidly rising demand for cross boundary coach services. The coach connection to the PRD is one of the fastest growing sectors of our airport business. On average, 4,600 passengers commute daily on these Mainland-bound coaches to and from HKIA every day.

Five coach operators offer up to 90 services a day to destinations throughout the PRD and beyond. Throughput has increased more than 3.5 times since the service came into operation with 20 services a day in September 1999.

The five operators are China Travel Service, Eternal East, GogoBus, Wing On Chinalink, and Golden Trip Express. The current network includes Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, and Foshan, Panyu, Zhongshan and Taishan in the western part of the PRD.

Operating hours have been progressively extended since 1999, with the first service departing at 7 am and a new midnight service to to Huanggang to tie in with the 24-hour operation at the Lok Ma Chau crossing. Additional departures are likely to take advantage of the 24-hour border crossing operation.

By far the most popular destination is Dongguan, taking just under half the total number of passengers, while just over a quarter are bound for Shenzhen.

Airport-Mainland Coach Services webpage

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Ref: PR-671