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HK airport plans new ferry terminal

Airport Authority Hong Kong, operator of Asia's third-busiest airfield, said it will build a new HK$1 billion (US$129 million) ferry terminal as it expands capacity at the airport to meet growing demand for flights.

The four-berth terminal will open in 2008, the government-owned airport operator said in a statement today. Ferry services link the airport to Macau and to the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhongshan.

The new ferry terminal is part of a wider plan to expand capacity at Hong Kong's airport, as Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd and other carriers add more flights to the city.

The airport's operator will be spending HK$4.5 billion by 2010 to add parking stands and other facilities, while a second passenger terminal will open this year, it said in August.

The current ferry terminal, which opened in September 2003, handled 1.5 million passengers last year. The terminal and the ferries are operated by a venture between Shun Tak Holdings Ltd (信德集團) and Chu Kong Shipping Enterprises Holdings Ltd (珠江船務).

Shun Tak Holdings, which operates about 80 percent of the direct ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau, holds 40 percent of the venture, with Chu Kong Shipping holding the rest.

Hong Kong airport's annual passenger numbers could grow 23 percent from last year to more than 50 million by 2010, Howard Eng, director of airport management, said in January. Cargo volume could rise to more than 4 million metric tonness from last year's 3.4 million, he added.

Shun Tak, controlled by the family of Macau gaming tycoon Stanley Ho (何鴻燊), is also building a Marriott Hotel near the airport.

The first phase of the hotel, expected to be completed in the second half of 2008, will comprise at least 658 rooms.
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