CHARM OFFENSIVE - Orient Aviation

s p e c i a l r e p o r tHKIA records first profit and clinches top award, but third anniversary brings ...A sense of dejà vuBy Jonathan SharpChaotic scenes at Hong Kong InternationalAirport (HKIA) as it marked itsthird anniversary in early July wereeerily reminiscent of those at the opening,with thousands of frustrated passengers facedwith delayed or cancelled flights milling aboutthe terminal, venting their anger on staff andphysically confronting security personnel.But unlike the airport’s embarrassingopening in 1998, when computer faults andother troubles resulted in a public relationsdisaster, the problems on this occasion couldnot be blamed so easily on the controlling body,the government’s Airport Authority (AA).A particularly troublesome typhoon,Utor, was buffetingnot justHong Kong at thetime but Taiwan,south China andthe Philippines aswell, putting theregion’s air trafficinto what the AAtermed gridlock.Industrial actionby Cathay PacificAirways pilotscompounded theproblem.Nevertheless,the AA and itsrecently appointed chief executive, DavidPang, came in for storms of criticism. AlbertCheng, a popular and outspoken local radiotalk show host, accused Dr Pang of beingslow to respond to the havoc and quick toshirk responsibility, noting he has no previousexperience of managing airports.As a result when Dr Pang presided overthird anniversary ceremonies (which weredelayed several days because of the badweather), he was obliged to spend a largeportion of his press conference patientlyexplaining what had gone wrong and whatneeded to be fixed.He expressed regret for the disruptionand stressed the importance of improvingcommunications with business partners andthe public. He also pledged to ensure strandedpassengers would have essential needs such aswater, blankets and food.Doubtless he would have preferred tospend more time dwelling on the more positivedevelopments at the airport in the past year,including the survey by British research firmSkyTrax that named Hong Kong as having theworld’s best airport for 2001.The airport at Chek Lap Kok off LantauIsland has also showcased plans to improvepassenger services, including vastly expandedretail and food/beverage outlets, an area thathas previously been seen as the weakest linkin the airport’s package of facilities.Among new attractions are shower rooms(US$8.35 a visit), napping areas, specialistcoffee counters and new web-based servicesproviding updated flight information andallowing passengers to pre-order duty freegoods and collect them at the airport.Also, the AA announced its first annualprofit, making HK$71 million (US$9.1 million)for the year to March 31, compared with a lossof HK$168 million in the previous year.The results would have been better butfor the authority’s decision to cut landing andparking fees by 15% from January 1, 2000in response to airline pressure. The AA saidthe reductions would be maintained for thefinancial year beginning April 1.Authority officials have reiterated that aprime task is to ready the airport for eventualprivatisation. Although no timetable has beendisclosed, some analysts have spoken of 2004as a target date.The past year has seen the opening of amarine cargo terminal at the airport’s edge aspart of its strategy of building links with theeconomically dynamic Pearl River Delta regionadjoining Hong Kong. The terminal enablesair cargo to be ferried by barge to and from16 ports throughout the Delta, a supplementto busy land routes. Also on the cargo front, acontract was signed this year with an internationalconsortium to build and operate HongKong Tradeport, a 28,000 square metre logisticscentre to develop supply chain managementin Hong Kong.Airport officials lay great stress on theneed for integration with the Delta as a conditionfor growth, and understandably playdown concerns that Hong Kong’s intermediaryrole will be erodedas China joinsthe World TradeOrganisation andmore traffic flowsdirectly betweenthe mainlandand the rest ofthe world. Themantra – by nomeans universallyaccepted – is thata bigger trade piewill be sufficientfor all, and HongKong’s superiorskills and facilitieswill offset the lower costs available on themainland.Much effort – and expense – is being putinto a new masterplan called the StrategicOverview of Major Airport Development(SOMAD) aimed at providing a blueprint tomaximise the airport’s traffic potential.AA officials disputed a report in HongKong’s iMail newspaper that consultantsworking on part of the masterplan had beentold to revise their proposals for terminal andcommercials projects for being, at HK$15 billion,too costly.One strong recommendation on the tableis for Hong Kong to develop facilities for expresscargo. “They found that express cargowould be a sensible way to go,” the spokesmansaid. It’s a faster growing segment.”Hong Kong International Airport: made a healthy profit in only its second full year of operation42 | Orient Aviation | September 2001