Fears about the computer system at Chek Lap Kok were raised more than a year before the new airport opened, it was revealed yesterday.
The Commission of Inquiry on the New Airport, holding its first public hearing, was also told that advice for a back-up computer system was ignored until late March.
Director of Civil Aviation Richard Siegel, the first witness to testify, described the system as 'more sophisticated than was necessary'.
The integrated system links computers to control baggage handling, assigns gates for planes and provides flight information.
But a computer breakdown resulted in chaos in the weeks after the opening.
Mr Siegel said he asked the Airport Authority at a meeting in June last year to have a 'stand-alone back-up system' where each element could perform individually.
Last December, Mr Siegel said he was told the new system would not be ready until February this year at the earliest, but no back-up had been prepared. At the time, the airport's opening date was April.
