will leverage on this success and follow up by taking the lead in the ongoing development of CDM in HKIA.
Weather Services for Aviation: The Airport Meteorological Office (AMO) of the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) provides weather services for the aviation community in accordance with the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The AMO makes routine and special weather observations and provides aerodrome forecasts and landing forecasts for the HKIA. It issues aerodrome warnings on thunderstorms, strong surface winds, tsunami, and other hazardous weather and events for protection of personnel, aerodrome facilities and aircraft on the ground. It also issues significant weather information on thunderstorms, tropical cyclones, turbulence, icing, volcanic ash and other hazardous weather which may affect aviation safety within Hong Kong FIR. To enhance the safety of aircraft landing and taking off from HKIA, the AMO issues alerts of low-level windshear and turbulence. It also provides tailored weather information over and near the airport to support ATM operation and operates the Airport Thunderstorm and Lightning Alerting System (ATLAS) to support the Red Lightning Warning at the airport. For service delivery, the HKO operates a web-based information service through which airlines and pilots can retrieve the latest meteorological information and flight documentation including weather forecasts for departure, destination and alternate aerodromes, forecast charts of en-route significant weather, wind and temperature data, lightning location information, weather radar and satellite images, as well as information on strong convective weather near the airport. HKO is taking forward a project to replace and upgrade the meteorological facilities for HKIA to meet the demand by the aviation community for higher quality aviation weather services, including the use of mobile platform to deliver aviation weather information. The project is being completed in phases.
Rescue and Fire Fighting Services: Such services within the airport are provided by the Airport Fire Contingent of the Fire Services Department. The contingent has a strength of about 260 uniformed members, operating two airside fire stations and two sea rescue berths for 24-hour emergency services. It is equipped with 14 fire appliances which can respond to incidents occurred at any point of operational runways within two minutes in optimum conditions of visibility and surface conditions, satisfying the relevant recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Two high capacity Command Boats, supported by eight speed boats, form the core of sea rescue operations.
Developments at the Airport: Airport business is the management of flows: the flows of passengers, cargo and information. To sustain the growth of flows, HKIA continues to expand its connections to new sources of passengers and cargo.
This means improving the network to the rapidly-growing markets in Mainland China, in particular the Pearl River Delta region (PRD). The coach station in Terminal 2 as well as the SkyPier ferry terminal established a close connection to the PRD region. The coach station features 36 bays and an all-weather waiting lounge, which provides a comfortable environment for passengers waiting to depart HKIA for different cities in PRD.
About 550 round trips by coaches are made every day to link HKIA with over 110 PRD cities and towns. Passengers expecting point-to-point transport services could use cross-boundary limousine for their PRD destinations. The cross-boundary coaches and limousines carried around 2 million passengers in 2013.
HKIA's network to the Mainland is also further strengthened by the formal opening of the new SkyPier in January 2010. The new SkyPier replaces the old facility to offer millions in the PRD direct access to the airport and its extensive international air network. Designed with the provision of eight berths (four at present) and an annual capacity for eight million passengers, the 16 500 m2 SkyPier is eight times the size of the old facility. It is conveniently connected to Terminal 1 through the Automated People Mover system, shortening the travelling time between SkyPier and Terminal 1 to about four minutes – half the time previously required. In 2013, the SkyPier served about 2.7 million passengers. Passengers of both directions can bypass customs and immigration formalities at HKIA and save transit time. To further streamline the travelling process at the border, HKIA has launched an upstream check-in service at Shekou, Fuyong, Humen, Zhongshan and Maritime Ferry Terminal and Taipa of Macau for sea-air passengers.
Passengers can obtain their boarding passes and check-in their baggage before arriving at HKIA. SkyPier is currently connected to eight PRD ports, namely: Shekou and Fuyong of Shenzhen, Maritime Ferry Terminal and Taipa of Macau, Humen of Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Nansha of Guangzhou. The provision of cross-boundary coach, limousine and ferry services has transformed HKIA into a truly multi-modal transportation hub combining air, sea and land transport. It is also a significant step forward in HKIA's integration with the Mainland Chinese market.
Air Services: The operation of scheduled air services to and from Hong Kong are facilitated by Air Services Agreements between Hong Kong and its aviation partners. Since the opening of HKIA, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has firmly and proactively implemented a policy of progressive liberalisation of air services to promote consumer choice and competition and to provide airlines of Hong Kong and its aviation partners with opportunities for service expansion.
Commercial Aviation, Recreational Flying and the Government Flying Service: Cathay Pacific Airways Limited operates 13 B747, 55B777 (including 38 B777-300ER), 35 A330, 11 A340 aircraft and 26 B747 freighters providing scheduled services throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand, North and South America and South Africa. Hong Kong Dragon Airlines
