Third Chek Lap Kok runway expected to be largely unaffected by high winds
Proposed location means it would be less likely to be hit by shear effect which forces hundreds of flights to abort landings or divert every year
A new third runway at Chek Lap Kok is expected to be largely unaffected by the monsoon winds that force hundreds of incoming flights a year to abort landings or divert to other airports.
In a boost to the airport's expansion plans and passengers who have faced disruptions at the two existing strips, the proposed location of the new runway would suffer less from the wild weather effects - known as wind shear - according to experts.
Preliminary findings by the Hong Kong Observatory show the proposed location of the third runway, northwest of the existing airport, means planes could avoid the blustery weather on March 5 that blew 30 planes off-course. The weather caused landings to be missed and diversions to Shenzhen and Macau airports.
Chan Pak-wai, a senior scientific officer at the Observatory, said: "The [third] runway is located further away from Lantau. For wind blowing over the mountain, even though we do see air flow disturbances travelling that way, compared to the existing two runways, the effect will be less."
Brian Legge, a member of the Hong Kong Airline Pilots Association's technical and safety committee and an expert on wind shear, said: "Given that the third runway will be further north [] from Lantau Island compared to the other two runways, one possible scenario will be less windshear as aircraft will have the option of using the new northern runway for landings [or departures] during times when wind shear may be more prevalent on the other runways."