Proper contingency plans vital for Hong Kong airport
- An urgent review is required after a burst tyre on a cargo plane shut down one runway for eight hours and inconvenienced passengers, especially those who had connecting flights
Hong Kong is on an arduous journey to recover its position as an international aviation hub. Much of the focus has been on the slow but steady resumption of services by Cathay Pacific Airways to pre-pandemic levels.
But an incident involving a cargo plane that shut down one of two runways, delaying hundreds of flights, has brought Hong Kong International Airport into the frame.
Calls for a review of contingency procedures are warranted after the eight-hour shutdown forced all traffic onto the south runway. The incident disrupted travel around the region, with at least 450 flights suffering delays.
Many passengers missed connections.
An Atlas Air Boeing 747 freighter had burst a tyre while making an emergency landing on the north runway at about 7am on Monday. The cargo plane had taken off from the south runway just after 4am but hydraulic failure forced its return to Hong Kong.
Suspected tyre debris had been found after it took off, the airport authority said.