Hong Kong must start thinking about a fourth airport runway to handle air traffic beyond 2030, the transport minister said yesterday.
But his comment drew a rebuttal from a veteran conservationist, who said the runway was unnecessary.
Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, secretary for transport and housing, told lawmakers in the commerce and economic development panel that the Airport Authority would be doing a preliminary strategic development study of the airport beyond 2030.
"Developments in Asian transport facilities will be examined, but the question of whether a fourth runway is needed will be unavoidable in the strategic study," he said.
The chairman of the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, Dr Samuel Hung Ka-yiu, said he could not understand why a study was needed because the present airport would have no space for the runway.
He said Hong Kong had almost no room to accommodate even the proposed third runway and the fourth one would not be feasible or necessary.