Hong Kong International Airport is the main
airport in Hong
Kong. It is colloquially known as Chek
Lap Kok Airport (赤鱲角機場), because it was built on the
island of Chek Lap
Kok by land reclamation, and
also to distinguish it from its predecessor, the closed
Kai Tak
Airport.
The airport opened for commercial operations in 1998,
replacing Kai Tak, and is an important regional trans-shipment
centre, passenger hub and gateway for destinations in Mainland
China (with over 40 destinations) and the rest
of Asia. Despite a
relatively short history, Hong Kong International Airport has won
seven Skytrax World Airport
Awards for customer satisfaction in just ten years. However, HKIA
ranked second and third in 2009 and 2010 respectively for the
Skytrax World Airport Awards, although it still remains as the best
airport taking into account passenger numbers annually.
HKIA also operates one of the world's largest passenger
terminal buildings (the world's largest when opened in 1998) and
operates twenty-four hours a day. The airport is operated by
the Airport Authority Hong Kong
and is the primary hub for Cathay Pacific
Airways, Dragonair, Hong Kong Express
Airways, Hong Kong Airlines,
and Air Hong
Kong (cargo). It is a focus city for
Air New
Zealand,to a lesser extent Qantas and Virgin
Atlantic, all of which use Hong Kong as a
stopover point for flights on the Kangaroo Route between
Australasia and Europe. Both United Airlines and
Air
India use Hong Kong as a stopover point for
flights respectively from the United States to Singapore and Ho Chi
Minh City as well as from India to Osaka and Seoul. In the near
future, Garuda
Indonesia is considering making Hong Kong their
transit hub for flights to Europe.
Flights are operated by roughly 90 airlines to over 150
cities across the globe, and in 2009 it was the
13th busiest airport worldwide in terms of
passenger throughput, registering 45,560,888.
(Departure Hall, pic above)
heading towards ------> airport express (towards HK MTR stn @
HK island).
