Hong Kong International Airport's Third Runway Declared 'Ready'

(22 April 2022, 09:36 +07)  Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has announced that the Third Runway at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is ready to commence operation, a major milestone in the expansion of the world's busiest cargo airport.

Earlier this month, the airport successfully completed the flight checks of the Third Runway and AAHK and the Civil Aviation Department are now working closely together on other preparation work, including statutory procedures, drills and exercises for the commissioning of the Third Runway.

The scale of the three-runway system (3RS) project at HKIA has involved the following seven core projects:

Test flight landing on HKIA's new third runway

- Reclaiming approximately 650 hectares of land north of the existing airport island, using non-dredge methods including deep cement mixing.

- Building the T2 Concourse and an associated apron.

- Building a new, 3,800-metre runway and its supporting taxiway systems, and reconfiguring the previous North Runway.

- Expanding Terminal 2 to provide full-fledged passenger services including arrivals and departures facilities.

- Building a new, 2,600-metre Automated People Mover (APM) system that will connect Terminal 2 with the T2 Concourse. The new APM system will operate at a top speed of 80km/h and be capable of transporting up to 10,800 passengers per hour.

- Building a new Baggage Handling System (BHS) linking Terminal 2 with the T2 Concourse. The new BHS will be capable of handling 9,600 bags per hour.

- Building other associated airport support infrastructure, road network and transportation facilities.

The new third runway, which will be put into operation later this year, will be designated as the north runway (07L/25R).

During the first three months of the year, passenger volume at HKIA increased 41.7% to 251,000 while cargo throughput and flight movements dropped by 9.2% and 1% to 1 million and 30,210, respectively. Read more.