HK urgently needs air traffic controllers: aviation chief
Hong Kong's newly appointed civil aviation chief says the city could face a shortfall of air traffic controllers within the next decade if air travel in the region continues to boom and retirements reduce the current crop of experienced staff.
This will have serious implications for the efficiency and safety of air transport in the Pearl River Delta area, director-general of Civil Aviation Norman Lo Shung-man said yesterday as he held his first news conference in his present role.
Mr Lo, a 27-year veteran of the department, was selected last month to replace the retiring Albert Lam Kwong-yu as its head. He was previously Mr Lam's deputy.
Mr Lo said he anticipated a marked increase in demand for air services over the next several years with accelerated liberalisation and the launch of low-cost airlines.
At the same time, 'slightly more than 50 experienced air traffic control staff will be out of the system' due to retirements among 140 controllers, he said.
'Their knowledge and experience will be difficult to replace. So we need to emphasise training for replacements,' Mr Lo said.
He said there was a need to train about 60 new controllers over the next six to eight years.
'But that's a very demanding schedule because we can only train seven to eight new personnel each year ... and we have to anticipate about a 10 per cent failure rate' for new recruits, Mr Lo said.
The department was also considering proposals to radically upgrade its air traffic management system for the first time since 1992, when the system in use in Hong Kong was designed.
Mr Lo said it would take the department three years to have a definite proposal in place.
He said a new system should last for 15 to 20 years.
One key issue of a new system will be its compatibility with air traffic management systems on the mainland.
