bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Jimmy Cheung

Anthony Charter yesterday admitted he had misjudged the scale of faults which paralysed the air cargo operation at Chek Lap Kok.

  Mr Charter told the Legco airport inquiry the scale of some expected 'teething problems' and their multiple effects had come as a surprise.

 Asked if this was due to his inexperience or misjudgment, Mr Charter replied: 'With hindsight, yes.' He also conceded some new cargo handling procedures were wrong, but denied a lack of planning.

 Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited is considering claiming damages from the Airport Authority for allegedly failing to honour its contractual duty of hosting a full trial which might have prevented the chaos at the airport.

 But Mr Charter conceded serious scheduling delays would have prevented HACTL from joining such a trial.

 Despite his reservations, he thought the only option was to get ready for the opening on July 6.

 Nobody had ever asked him if more time was needed. Everybody just kept asking if they were ready, he said.

 Mr Charter said he had warned Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang in August last year that it would be too risky for HACTL to operate in April.

 He said he had never implied to Financial Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who toured the airport site as acting chief executive in June, that it would be smooth sailing on the first day.

 The select committee heard HACTL had never demanded that the opening be delayed to August.

 Chairwoman Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee asked if the situation could have been avoided had the company pressed for a delay.

 Mr Charter said he thought there was no alternative and that further delay would cost more.

 The cargo operator is still experiencing some 200 operational faults a day and processing time on the land side still trails behind operations at Kai Tak.



Air chief admits misjudging scale of 'teething problems'