Building an Airport City to Seize Greater Bay Area Development Opportunities

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is a leading international aviation hub. Recently, the Construction Industry Council (CIC) invited Council Member Ir Ricky Leung, Executive Director, Engineering and Technology at the Airport Authority (AA), to share how the AA is enhancing the airport’s competitiveness to drive economic growth in Hong Kong.

Building an Airport City

The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area proposes differential development and positive interaction between Greater Bay Area airports to develop a world-class airport cluster. In 2019, the AA announced its strategy to transform HKIA into an Airport City to further consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international aviation hub.

The plan aims to transform HKIA ‘from city airport to Airport City’: a new destination and landmark integrating a variety of commercial activities with its function as an air transport centre.

Ricky explained: “Despite the aviation industry being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last three years, the Airport City plan has made significant progress since its announcement in 2019. When it’s completed, the airport will be transformed into a new landmark for Hong Kong and one of the key growth engines for its economy.”

Leveraging on Geographical Advantage

The Airport City vision is to create a synergistic effect by consolidating economic activity at the airport and its neighbourhood. This will be achieved by fully utilising the airport’s unique geographical advantage and the opportunities afforded new infrastructure. The project is in line with the Tomorrow Lantau plan and will enhance Hong Kong’s ability to seize on the vast development prospects of the Greater Bay Area.

Raising Passenger and Cargo Throughput

The Airport City plan includes multiple developments and facilities. After a concentrated effort by the construction industry and others, HKIA’s third runway went into operation last year. The full Three-Runway System is expected to be completed by 2024.

“With the Three-Runway System, it is estimated that HKIA will be able to handle 120 million passengers and 10 million tonnes of cargo annually,” said Ricky.

Developing Functions for an Airport City

SKYCITY, adjacent to the airport terminal and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, is a prominent part of the Airport City project for enhancing its “functionality”.

“SKYCITY will be a world-class retail, dining and entertainment destination. Together with the expansion of AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE), a number of hotels, the geographical advantage of HKIA and the Bay Area’s ‘one-hour living cycle’ concept, SKYCITY will become a vibrant lifestyle hub drawing Greater Bay Area visitors to travel via HKIA,” said Ricky.

At the centre of SKYCITY is the 3.8 million square-foot 11 SKIES, which will be Hong Kong’s largest retail, dining and entertainment destination. It will offer more than 800 shops plus 570,000 square-feet of experiential entertainment facilities, seamlessly connected by footbridges to AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) and the new Terminal 2.

Building the Second Phase of AsiaWorld-Expo

In last year’s Policy Address, the government proposed to strengthen Hong Kong’s status as an international trade centre by fostering development of the MICE industry. Accordingly, the AA is now developing the second phase of AWE to increase its event and exhibition capacity.

“BIM (Building Information Modelling), CDE (Common Data Environment) and MiMEP have been used throughout the design phase to facilitate construction and future maintenance of the AWE Phase 2 development,” Ricky noted.

Innovative technologies can effectively enhance productivity, and demand for professional services has been rising in line with large infrastructure construction. To meet this need, the CIC has been working closely with the government and educational organisations to provide BIM and MiC training to construction practitioners. The government has also reserved space in the future Northern Metropolis for storage and fabrication of MiC modules. In the long run, Hong Kong will become the MiC hub for the Bay Area.

Improving Airport City Connectivity

The 200-metre Sky Bridge connecting Terminal 1 to the T1 Satellite Concourses was completed and opened last year. It is the world’s longest footbridge inside an airport over a live taxiway, and is high enough for a ‘superjumbo’ A380 to pass underneath.

Now passengers can easily stroll to the T1 Concourse using automated walkways, with no need to catch a shuttle bus.

As Ricky explained, “By widely adopting off-site prefabrication and DfMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) for building Sky Bridge, we minimised disruption to an operating airport environment.”

In alignment with the Greater Bay Area concept, the AA is also progressively enhancing HKIA’s cross-boundary connections with other Bay Area cities. SkyPier Terminal, which will commence operation in Q2, will offer seamless land-air transfer services to travellers.

“With the launch of SkyPier, passengers can do the upstream check-in at the Greater Bay Area, use the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to come to the SkyPier Terminal in the airport’s restricted area, then proceed to their boarding gates without going through immigration and customs in Hong Kong,” Ricky explained.

Next to the SkyPier Bonded Bridge will be the Airportcity Link, the first autonomous transportation system in Hong Kong, shuttling visitors between SKYCITY and the artificial island at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Boundary Crossing Facilities.

To cement Hong Kong’s leading position as a cargo gateway, the AA is building a new airside intermodal cargo pier and HKIA Logistics Park in Dongguan.

Realising an Ambitious Vision

“Airport City will inject new energy into Hong Kong’s economy, enabling it to better integrate and capture Greater Bay Area development opportunities. I appeal to all of you to continue providing support to the development of the HKIA from a city airport to an Airport City,” Ricky stated.

With major infrastructure projects coming one after another and the volume of construction projects increasing, the CIC will continue to promote the wider adoption of innovative technologies in various projects to improve site safety, efficiency and quantity. It will continue to work with the industry to take Hong Kong’s economy to the next level.