Amsterdam's Schiphol could be role model for beleaguered Kai Tak

HONG Kong's Kai Tak International Airport is bursting at the seams, and Chek Lap Kok airport is still a long way off completion - 1997 at the earliest.

In the interim, aviation authorities are looking at how they can squeeze a quart into a pint pot. Reducing curfew time is one option, but residents living in the flight path area are objecting strongly to that idea.

Kai Tak's problems are similar to those of many other airports around the world. Air traffic is growing, requiring larger airports, but so are the cities, bringing communities closer to the airports. The two do not mix very well.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is the world's oldest, but a massive upgrading programme which will continue well into the next century has made it one of only two ''green'' airports - Munich is the other.

The comfort of nearby residents, and of passengers, has been made a priority, and millions of dollars have been invested in both the economic and ecological aspects of the airport, according to speakers at an international environment conference this week.

Speaking at the conference, organised by the Orient Airlines Association in Kuala Lumpur, Schiphol president Hans Smits said aircraft noise and pollution were not compatible with the quality of life now expected in Europe.