Chaos blamed on negligent airport chiefs

The chaotic opening of the new airport was due to negligence, over-confidence and lack of co-ordination by airport bosses, the official inquiry has ruled.

It said the Airport Authority failed in its legal duty to provide an efficient airport.

However, government officials named in evidence during the inquiry, including Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang, escaped blame in the Commission of Inquiry on the New Airport's report released yesterday.

The report said Airport Authority officials were blinded by over-confidence, believing they could meet their deadline despite previous problems.

When Chek Lap Kok opened on July 6, two weeks of chaos ensued. Cargo operations were suspended, baggage lost and flights missed. Information boards, escalators and other facilities did not work, confusing passengers, airlines and ground crews.

The commission said that: The government steering committee which oversaw the project was responsible for poor monitoring of airport readiness by its executive arm, the New Airport Projects Co-ordination Office (NAPCO); The authority and Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (HACTL) were over-confident despite delays and should have sought a postponement of the opening; The Airport Authority board was ultimately responsible for the authority's failure to ensure an efficient airport and failure to monitor readiness of HACTL; Authority chief executive Dr Hank Townsend made misleading statements to the steering committee; There was poor co-ordination between authority divisions and no contingency plans or overall risk assessment; Software providers Electronic Data Systems and the authority were responsible for flight information display software problems and lack of training.