Hong Kong: Underlining its commitment to capitalize on its leading position in Asia, despite going ahead with the planned expansion of Singapore's Changi Airport, analysts are hopeful of it as a major aviation hub once coronavirus restrictions are lifted. about Hong Kong's ability to achieve its role in.
According to experts, work on Changi's Terminal 5, which will include new facilities to deal with potential pandemics, will not be finished until the mid-2030s. This is in contrast to the city's own airport expansion project, which is expected to end in 2024.
The new terminal design was revealed by Singapore's Ministry of Transport on Sunday. The ministry said it would be able to function as smaller sub-terminals with space that could be converted for COVID-19 testing or for isolating high-risk passengers.
Hong Kong's Asiaworld-Expo will once again be put under quarantine during a future pandemic, without the need for "additional facilities" at a nearby airport, according to Law Cheung-kwok, a senior adviser at the Chinese University's Aviation Policy and Research Center. Can be used.
However, he stressed that the sooner the government lifts the travel ban, the better, as Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will take time to expand its fleet, add more flights and hire more pilots.
It takes time to complete the operation. The law said airlines would need a certain amount of time to plan before adding more flights and changing their schedules, even as foreign airlines are returning to Hong Kong.
As travel recovered earlier than anticipated and Singapore assumed the lead during the revival, Changi Airport announced last month that it would reopen two terminals that were closed during the pandemic.
In July, the airport handled 3.3 million passengers, or 56% of pre-pandemic levels, compared to 401,000 passengers in Hong Kong, or 6% of the pre-Covid figures.
Mainland A "dynamic-zero" COVID-19 policy that allows travelers to undergo quarantine in hotels and take coronavirus tests has been adopted by China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The third runway at Hong Kong International Airport opened in July as part of a HK$141.5 billion (US$18.2 billion) expansion that began in 2016. The expansion added 650 hectares (1,606 acres) to the airport. The airport authority opened the third runway, closing one of the two already in use for an upgrade. This was done in conjunction with other plans, such as the expansion of Terminal 2, and all work is projected to be finished in 2024, increasing the capacity to approximately 120 million passengers annually.
According to schedule data from aviation analytics company Cirium, Singapore had 46% fewer flights in August 2019 compared to the same month in 2018, while Hong Kong had 91% fewer flights in the same period.
Changi had "temporarily" overtaken Hong Kong with its rapid flight recovery, but Ascend By Cerium senior aviation analyst Herman Tse predicted that Hong Kong would regain its position once the network fully recovered. Will get
According to Tse, Hong Kong International Airport will be in a stronger position than ever before and will continue to serve as a major hub for aviation in the region.
Shukor Yusoff, founder of aviation advisory company Andau Analytics, claimed that although it was clear that the government's COVID-19 policies had a negative impact on Hong Kong's airport, the city had a "singular advantage" of being part of China and being close to it . The mainland market meant that it would experience no traffic shortage for the next 20 years.
"Singapore is betting that the aviation industry will expand significantly over the next ten years, to the point where Changi will need a new terminal to accommodate 50 million passengers in 20 years or more," Yusuf said.
Holding Singapore will be challenging for Hong Kong, a subsidiary of a French banking conglomerate, because the city's opening took too long, according to Alicia García Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis.
The number of international airports in China has exploded, so the need for transit is less and if internal transit would be simpler, she said. Singapore can still serve as a hub for many Southeast Asian countries.
Coronavirus: Hong Kong "has room" to further relax quarantine regulations if caseloads decrease
Hong Kong Palace Museum to support repatriating cultural heritage
Hong Kong HC denies teen's request for legal assistance to contest school's long hair policy