Originally Posted by
B-HOR
Thank you for taking the time to formulate your very thoughtful replies!
Seeing how the Int'l business community consensus seems to be to enthusiastically goad the SAR govt into sinking more resources into another questionable mud-dumping endeavor it would seem this thing is all but decided.
Too bad.
Best of luck to you gentleman. If you really think the price of oil is going to be hovering comfortably around the $70 level for the next 20-odd years because some toothy Saudi prince promised you with fingers crossed behind his back, you're going to need it.
I do think you should read the technical papers in this consultation, that would explain all your questions.
First of all, the runways are designed to have 60 planes per hour in the design phase, and the number goes up to 68 after fine tuning, but there are already 61 operations per hour now, and the remaining capacity is expected to be filled up within this decade.
Secondly, the HKIA is surrounded by hills, and this terrain issue limits the use of runway for mixed operations. You can find more information on the consultation documents.
Thirdly, you have to get 1500m of clearance in order to get all of the runways operational, and you have the fill the land inbetween two runways as taxiways, that's why the scale of reclamation is so large.
Fourthly, HKIA's handling 80% of international pax and 90% of international freight in the PRD, so the lack of space for expansion will drive all the traffic from HKIA to other airport in the region.
http://www.hkairport2030.com/en/info...lications.html