OpinionHow Hong Kong aviation is going to come back stronger – with Beijing’s blessing

Hong Kong remains the world’s top air cargo port. Beijing’s green light for the integration of Zhuhai and Hong Kong airports has put paid to speculation that it was favouring Shenzhen as the aviation hub for the Greater Bay Area

3-MIN READ3-MIN

A cargo aircraft operated by Cathay Pacific takes off from Hong Kong International Airport on June 9. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 6:45am, 4 Dec 2020Updated: 6:47am, 4 Dec 2020

The chief executive’s recent policy address contains a somewhat overlooked item that I believe is of immense importance to Hong Kong’s future.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority, with the approval of the central government, will be injecting equity into Zhuhai airport, with the goal of turning it into Hong Kong’s “fourth runway”.

The airport authority will also create a dedicated car park on the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to enhance connectivity and passenger convenience between the two airports, and across the Greater Bay Area.

At first glance, this doesn’t appear to be a key policy announcement. Zhuhai is a small, regional airport that the Hong Kong Airport Authority has been running as a franchise since 2006. The domestic airport handled 12 million passengers last year (compared to Hong Kong, which handled 71.5 million.) In terms of traffic, Zhuhai is quite far down the list of China’s airports, at No 35.

But if you look at the big picture, the integration of Zhuhai airport with Hong Kong’s network is very big news. It’s a signal that the central government strongly supports Hong Kong as the aviation hub of the Greater Bay Area.

When Beijing announced the Greater Bay Area initiative, it assigned roles to each of the cities to limit competition and balance resources. At the time, the central government affirmed that Hong Kong would remain the region’s main international aviation hub. Since then, there has been speculation that Beijing has changed its mind in favour of Shenzhen. It’s a relief that this is not going to be the case.