HKIA Midfield Development on Schedule for End-2015 Inauguration with Concourse's Topping-out Ceremony

(HONG KONG, 25 November 2014)  –  Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) announced that the Midfield Development at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reached a milestone today with the concourse’s topping-out ceremony, marking solid progress toward the project’s targeted completion by end-2015.

The ceremony was officiated by Professor Anthony Cheung, Secretary for Transport and Housing, Vincent Lo, Chairman of the AA and Fred Lam, Chief Executive Officer of the AA. Over 200 guests and business partners attended the event, which commemorated the topping-out of concrete structure of the building.

Speaking at the ceremony, Professor Cheung said, "Over the past decade, air traffic at HKIA had grown by 65%. Up to October this year, HKIA has reported year-on-year passenger and cargo growth of 5.6% and 6.4% respectively.  These are most impressive figures much envied by some other international airports."

In his address, Mr Lo said, “The Midfield expansion will come just in time to help HKIA meet its faster-than-expected traffic growth. Last year we saw another record-breaking year for passenger volume and flight movements. With the completion of the new passenger concourse, HKIA will be able to serve an additional 10 million passengers a year."

Located west of Terminal 1, between the two existing runways, the 105,000-square-metre, five-level Midfield Concourse is a core part of HKIA’s Midfield Development. The concourse will be equipped with 20 new aircraft parking stands, and passengers will be able to access it from Terminal 1 via an extended automated people mover. Begun in 2011, the development’s construction is within a budget of more than HK$10 billion and has so far created over 2,000 jobs.

In line with the AA’s commitment to make HKIA one of the world’s greenest airports, the new Midfield Concourse is being built according to an environmentally friendly design with more than 35 green features across its construction and operational aspects. The facility will become one of the first buildings in Hong Kong to be certified with the BEAM Plus Gold Standard, an industry-wide environmental assessment scheme for buildings that is recognised by the Hong Kong Green Building Council. Low-energy lighting systems, high-performance glazing panels, solar shading and north-facing skylights have been incorporated in the building’s design, and the principles of reusing and recycling will be adopted in its day-to-day operations wherever possible.

Mr Lo added, “The Midfield Development shows that we are making immense efforts to cater to HKIA’s intermediate air traffic demand. But our two-runway system is close to reaching its maximum capacity, so the airport’s long-term solution rests with expanding into a three-runway system (3RS). We are delighted that, after more than two years of vigorous environmental impact assessment and intensive public engagement, the Director of Environmental Protection has issued the Environmental Permit for the proposed 3RS project. We will proceed with completing the other necessary statutory requirements for the 3RS in the coming months, with a target of having it fully operational in 2023.”

Professor Cheung said, "I am pleased to see the AA making an important step forward by completing a thorough Environmental Impact Assessment process and recently obtaining the Environmental Permit for the Third Runway.  The next step will be formulating detailed design, work plans and funding arrangements. New challenges still lie ahead.  We have to assure our various stakeholders that we are making not just an economic but also social investment that will pay to benefit future generations."