Airport Authority chief executive Billy Lam Chung-lun is considering whether to apply for his post, which is now being advertised.
An authority spokesman said the advert, placed in newspapers last week, was to ensure the post was filled in a fair and open way.
Mr Lam, who is on secondment from the Government, is understood to have been invited to apply.
He joined the authority in January 1998 as deputy chief executive and was promoted to act as chief executive in December 1998.
A Legco select committee, which investigated the chaos at the opening of the new airport in July 1998, criticised Mr Lam for failing to discharge his duty in his previous job as director of the new airport projects co-ordination office.
The committee concluded that Mr Lam had to share some of the responsibility.
