AIRCRAFT could be rescheduled to fly in and out of Kai Tak earlier in the evening to ease the noise burden on Kowloon residents, under proposals being considered by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD).
Airlines are to be urged to use older and noisier aircraft earlier in the day and look at rescheduling flights so fewer use the airport after 9 pm.
An inter-departmental government working group, looking into ways of minimising noise at night following the suspension of the controversial ''opposite runway system'' last month, is also examining whether flight procedures can be altered.
All aspects of aircraft approach and take-off will be scrutinised.
Members of the Liberal Democratic Federation (LDF) of Hong Kong, including district board and urban council members, met CAD officials yesterday to discuss the impact of banning the opposite runway system.
It meant planes taking off towards the sea were steered directly into the path of an oncoming plane and kept apart by a minimum of just 610 metres when they crossed.
It was dropped on October 29 after a UK Civil Aviation Authority report said it was a ''definite hazard to flight safety''.
