Marco Polo

http://www.szcpost.com/2011/06/shenz...-tomorrow.html
Shenzhen Airport to Launch Second Runway tomorrow on June 29, 2011 by jasmineyu

Shenzhen Airport opened a new cargo shipping air route for Shenzhen, Wuhan and Zhengzhou yesterday. The air route will be flown by the B737－300 plane, which will undertake five flights per week with payload capacity of 14 tons each. As of now, Shenzhen Airport has totally open 32 air routes for all-cargo service at home and abroad.

The expansion project of the flying area of Shenzhen Airport now has been approved by China Civil Aviation Bureau ............ The second runway of Shenzhen Airport will be formally launched on June 30, 2011, which indicate Shenzhen Airport will enter into a new age of operation with two runways.

As one of the major transportation facility projects in Shenzhen, the flying area expansion work of Shenzhen Airport was designed to construct the second runway, 3800 meters long and 60 meter wide, as well as its supporting facilities at the west of the existing runway. Started in 2002 for preparation work, the project was approved by the State Development and Reform Commission in June 2006 and was formally started on November 28, 2009 on the base of completing prophase land formation work. On May 11, 2011, the project ......... passed the completion acceptance test.

The second runway will effectively relieve the current situation that the airport’s capacity is saturated and greatly improve the airport’s aviation transportation capacity, providing better infrastructure conditions for the successful holding of the Universiade and enabling high quality transportation services for Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta regions. Jasmine

percysmith

Marco Polo have you actually looked at AAHK's side of the argument http://www.hkairport2030.com/en/ ?

Demand case assumes 3.2% CAGR http://www.hkairport2030.com/en/mast..._aviation.html, which corresponds with the projected economic growth rate http://www.hkairport2030.com/en/mast..._aviation.html

AAHK admitted to negative growth from 2008-2010.

AAHK noted a number of adjustment factors http://www.hkairport2030.com/en/mast...kia_popup.html, but yes they did not mention the possibility of airspace restriction.

percysmith

Actually with the issue of airspace restriction plus the fact CCAB's already green-lighted the second runway at SZN, I'm in favour of spending more to extend the AEL to SZN (with both HK and PRC border control at SZN) instead of building the third runway now. Transit passengers be damned - I don't see the case for boosting CX/KA/HX's revenue at the expense of the HK taxpayer effectively subsidising landing fees.

Marco Polo

Of course. The fact remains HKG relies on re-export cargo counted as two movements and selfloading transit freight also counted as two movements.
Whilst up till now Shenzhen has been relying on seafood aircargo the 2nd runway opening will make a huge difference. The cost of labour in the Shenzhen area is now driving electronics companies northwards. HKG has been relying on the likes of Foxconn for aircargo re-export but the writing is on the wall and companies are already on their bikes northward to remain cost competitive.
The AAHK's own study shows maximising the current two HKG runways will allow a 45% increase in pax movements over current. The AAHK site does not even mention the proposal of the former CAD director to have a new terminal and runway elsehwre in the NT for the same cost of just dredging at Chep Lap Kok. UPS has made Shenzhen its Hub for Asia.
Meanwhile aircargo in HKG is down for the past 4 consecutive months.
If CX and DHL want a third runway they should pay for it ,not the taxpayer (me).
All of which is 'up in the air' as they will be in court fighting judicial reviews of the EIA for years anyway.

percysmith

http://www.hkairport2030.com/en/listen/comments.html

I noted additional comments:

If they do a public consult like HKEx then I'll write them a response.

Marco Polo

http://deltabridges.com/news/shenzhe...tion-cut-costs
Shenzhen- Foxconn Relocates Production to Cut CostsPosted Fri, 2010-07-02 14:14 by John Wieja
Taiwan's high-tech giant Foxconn plans to move its major production line from Shenzhen to Langfang in North China's Hebei province in an attempt to reduce labor costs, chinanews.com.cn reported Thursday.

Vincent Tong, spokesman for the corporation, says the relocation is estimated to be completed by the end of this year. After that, only a small part of its business will remain in Shenzhen.He adds that the fees for the relocation could hinder performance in the first half, which has already witnessed a larger loss compared with the same period of the previous year due to price reduction, adjustment of product lines and spending on depreciation.

It is reported that Foxconn suffered a loss of $18.7 million in the first half of 2009.

The company started its relocation project in the mainland in 2007. Right now part of its product lines have been removed to northern areas of China and India.

-Asiaone, Yan Weijue

kaka

looks to me like the only way to thrive and survive is to be the most attractive transiting hub whilst the traffic generation is moving. The bad part to that, is as long as they are generated in china, HK as a port is not exactly enticing. but if it's elsewhere in the SEA, HK probs make do as long as the policies dont change much around in the area.

Cathay Boy

As long as they are generated elsewhere, pax will simply fly airlines that takes them directly to the primary transiting hub, instead of flying HKG, take a shuttle/bus/whatever to SZX, and then having to go through customs and most-likely, a re-check-in for boarding passes.

Airport "partnership" doesn't work, and pax will always prefer the most direct least hassle way to fly.

Marco Polo

HACTL handles 80% of cargo at HKIA.
Look here:
http://www.hactl.com/webapp/hactlpbf...Statistics.jsp

http://www.hactl.com/webapp/hactlpbf...006&FileType=2

Compare Jan-Jun 2010 versus Jan-June 2011
Grand Total % change Import -5.84 Export -7.56

whilst the Japan incident would have some effect the main cause is the relocation of major electronics industries northward from Shenzhen.
Someone needs to carry all those Ipods out of the Mainland so extra Mainland airspace wil be needed for that to the demise of HK airport.
It will be interesting to see how the figures stack up 6 months hence after Shenzhen's 2nd runway has been operational for that whole period Jul-Dec.

http://www.hacis.com/en/docs/superli...ENG_200609.pdf
contains a handy map showing airport locations. Why would you want to ship goods to HK for export when Bao An is closer and just doubled its runway capacity ?

kaka

*and then having to go through customs and most-likely, a re-check-in for boarding passes.* this part is even optional. as long as you change mode more than once in the middle it will not be any enticing.

Think why you did not go to CTS too much through NRT/HND back in the days when you need to transit!
I believe this is cuz the HK govt called wolf too often and noone now believe building an extra runway is actually useful when it is way more useful compared to the earlier projects they've had. (Disney, Route 10, XRL, the Pearl delta bridge)

Marco Polo

"I believe this is cuz the HK govt called wolf too often and noone now believe building an extra runway is actually useful when it is way more useful compared to the earlier projects they've had. (Disney, Route 10, XRL, the Pearl delta bridge) "
I think you have the wrong animal - white elephant instead of wolf. This puppet Administration demonstrates by its actions how it panders to the property tycoons - lame duck Tsang will need a new job in a year's time so he is trying to force through the pour-concrete world in Hong Kong using taxpayers' money before he leaves to join the boards of better pastures: meanwhile the pollution issue remains for the incoming CE to resolve along with a lack of affordable English education , a property market bubble about to pop, numerous policy U turns, stalled Home Ownership scheme, stalled competition laws , no landlord and tenant protection, no mandatory Political party donor declarations to see who actually pulls their party policy strings, Lau Wong Fat did no wrong by forgetting in his Exco declaration of assets an extra 750 properties and land, and maybe by 2013 they will have decided how to hand out the HKD 6,000 a head promised in the last budget to all permanent ID card holders no matter where they live now,
etc.
Shambles.

Marco Polo

(Note : Peter Lok Kung-Nam became CEO of HKBAC which is the private jet aviation centre at Chep Lap Kok.)

http://pilotnewsmag.com/?p=8242
“Zheng Tianxiang, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou who specializes in transport, said a combined air-traffic control center could significantly boost efficiency and reduce bottlenecks. “Airspace congestion is part of the reason why Hong Kong’s two existing runways aren’t fully utilized yet,” he said. Mr. Zheng said a combined air-traffic-control system could help the five area airports more effectively deal with its congested airspace. China’s airspace is mainly controlled by the military, making China one of global aviation’s most restrictive countries. Civilian flights are allowed to operate only on very limited routes and altitudes. Serious delays at times of inclement weather and military activity are common.
Though the airspace above Hong Kong isn’t under Chinese military control, many flights pass above mainland China. Restrictions that affect the city include one requiring planes to enter or leave Chinese airspace from the city at an altitude of around 5,000 meters during most of the day. To gain enough altitude, aircraft heading north of the city must first fly south before reversing course, while aircraft arriving from the north need to fly past Hong Kong to lose enough altitude before landing. These restrictions often add 10 to 15 minutes to flight time.
Peter Lok, a former head of civil aviation in Hong Kong, cited these existing bottlenecks as some of the reasons why a new runway shouldn’t be constructed in Hong Kong. He said Hong Kong should seek cheaper alternatives, such as working with other neighboring airports to better allocate flights.“While an expansion is necessary, the real question is which city the third runway should be located in,” he said, noting that Hong Kong could get extra capacity from Shenzhen’s airport by siphoning traffic to the adjacent city.Norman Lo, the current head of the civil aviation department, said Thursday the Hong Kong government has regular meetings with aviation authorities in China to discuss ways to enhance air traffic coordination and optimize air routes in the region, but he declined to elaborate.”

All this talk of military airspace etc is chilling: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...le-theory.html

http://en.china-cam.cn/html/NEWS/Oth.../0324/584.html
Shenzhen airport checkin facility in Sheung Wan
"Shenzhen Airport provides more domestic routes with which Hong Kong can hardly compete. "Flights to other mainland cities via Shenzhen are regarded as domestic but international via Hong Kong. Customs clearance is faster for domestic flights and the airfares are lower," said Michael Wu, chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong.
Inaccessibility is the main reason deterring Hong Kong residents from using Shenzhen Airport. The Hong Kong and Shenzhen governments are now studying the possibility of building a railway to link the two airports. If the project does happen, residents of both cities will benefit from it," Shen noted.

percysmith

Yeah. SZN link is far more attractive.

There's already a decent road to SZN now - the Shenzhen bay border crossing. Door to airport for $800 a pop - no problem if I'm travelling as a group.

If I'm flying solo then I like an AEL-like link to it. In fact, piggy-backing the AEL will be a seriously good way to go.

Leave the two existing HKIA runways for HKG's international traffic.

And screw the transit traffic - I'm not keen on spending HK$136B of HK's money just to subsidise the three HK carriers.

Shimon

With the amount of Cargo HKG moves does the A380 make sense?

Marco Polo

Percy said"Yeah. SZN link is far more attractive. There's already a decent road to SZN now - the Shenzhen bay border crossing. Door to airport for $800 a pop - no problem if I'm travelling as a group. If I'm flying solo then I like an AEL-like link to it. In fact, piggy-backing the AEL will be a seriously good way to go. Leave the two existing HKIA runways for HKG's international traffic. And screw the transit traffic - I'm not keen on spending HK$136B of HK's money just to subsidise the three HK carriers. "

Totally agree. A twenty minute fast train to BaoAn with better immig facilies than at Lowu now but all encapsulated within Chep Lap Kok so you enter the Mainland secure area within Chep Lap Kok (same as they do in Vancouver airport where you can enter the USA and travel on a domestic flight even though physically still being in Canada). Makes sense. Cheaper tickets out of BaoAn, more Mainland destinations and all domestic. With a HKID card / Frequent HK visitor barcode on passport and APEC card I would see this being almost seamless assuming the Mainland Immigration staff are trained up to HK standards -
and a step forward towards One country one system.