Hong Kong airport to get HK$7 billion upgrade ahead of third runway

(SCMP) The Airport Authority will spend HK$7 billion on upgrading and expanding facilities to cope with growing traffic before the launch of the third runway in 2024. While the runway project meant airlines faced charges and fees, the authority said no extra costs would be directly passed on to passengers. "For the overall third runway project, we have made a separate financial arrangement with airline companies and they agree to implement new charges and fees by phases. This new investment will not affect the fee agreement made between us," the authority's executive director for corporate development, Wilson Fung Wing-yip, told lawmakers on Monday at a Legislative Council subcommittee meeting. "As to the passengers, I believe this investment will not pose any direct impact on them." The new initiatives include expansion of Terminal 1, construction of a Sky Bridge linking Terminal 1 and the north satellite concourse, and completing the last phase of a scheme to add 33 aircraft parking stands. An annex building in Terminal 1, measuring 17,000 square metres, will provide over 40 extra check-in counters and self-service bag drop facilities, while the East Hall will be expanded to provide more shops and dining spaces, a new caring corner and a children's play zone. A 12-storey multi-purpose building, due to be completed by 2019, will be built next to the Car Park 4 site and supply 1,400 parking spaces, offsetting the loss of 1,500 spaces during the expansion of Terminal 2 beginning at the end of this year. Fung did not rule out further increases in parking fees in the future despite rises of about 9 to 11 per cent for hourly parking fees and 57 per cent for three-day parking, effective June 15. "Our policy is that we encourage people to use public transport so we have imposed a drastic fee increase for long-stay parking," he said. "Whether or not we will review the parking fees in the future depends on the demand and supply in the market." But this prompted Civic Party lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki to brand the authority a hypocrite. "If you don't want people to use private cars, you should stop providing parking spaces. Increasing parking fees will only impose a heavy burden on car owners," he said. Source: South China Morning Post by Cannix Yau from China Travel & Tourism News http://ift.tt/1iB6EFm