After its initial problems, Hong Kong now has an outstanding new airport. And it is one which, in the long term, has to be paid for.
No one is disputing that charges at Chek Lap Kok will eventually have to be higher in real terms than at Kai Tak, if only to defray the $156 billion construction costs. The new airport will also eventually provide facilities not available at its predecessor, such as 24-hour opening and a second runway - thus justifying a premium in landing and other charges.
But many of the services which might explain such a fee increase are not yet available: the second runway, for example, is unlikely to open before the middle of next year.
But the Asian economic crisis provides the real reason why the higher charges, which were agreed with airline representatives while Chek Lap Kok was still being built, are no longer appropriate.
The Mass Transit Railway Corporation was forced to respond to a changed financial climate and lower prices on the Airport Express, even though this is a premium service for which it had expected to charge higher fares. In the same way, the Airport Authority cannot expect to be immune from economic reality. That reality is that, in the present deflationary environment, with Singapore's Changi Airport aggressively reducing its charges, and many local businesses struggling to survive, it is not viable for the authority to continue to levy charges far higher than the airline and freight industries can afford.
If there was any doubt on that point, this week's redundancies at Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering have made matters clear, with 352 workers having lost their jobs partly as a result of the higher charges at Chek Lap Kok. This highlights the urgency of addressing the issue of airport costs.
