Dragonair Welcomes Positive Public Response in Support of the Development of a Third Runway
29-Dec-2011 Dragonair has welcomed the positive response from members of the public in support of the building of a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport in a recent independent survey conducted by the Social Sciences Research Centre (SSRC) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). The airline believes results reflect the opinion that Hong Kong society understand the value of the diverse benefits brought by the building of the new runway.
Seventy three percent of the 24,242 responses received through the survey supported the third runway option, and eighty percent of the respondents also urged the Hong Kong Airport Authority (AAHK) to make an urgent decision on the expansion plan of the HKIA.
As a local airline, Dragonair fully supports the expansion of the HKIA and welcomes AAHK's submission and recommendation to the Hong Kong SAR Government in building the third runway. Despite the global economic downturn, the demand for air traffic remains high in the Asian region and neighbouring cities, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, have taken action to grow their airports and enhance facilities to absorb the increasing demand.
Dragonair Chief Executive Officer Patrick Yeung said: "The capacity of HKIA will be saturated in a decade or so. In order to sustain Hong Kong's hub status and enhance our airport's operational efficiency, it is essential to develop the third runway as per the master plan proposed by the Airport Authority.
"The survey result released by SSRC of HKU represents not only the stakeholders' views but those from the general public. It is gratifying to see that the majority of those who filled in the survey would like to see a third runway built at HKIA, along with a recommendation to proceed with the statutory Environment Impact Assessment process required to address the environmental concerns among members of the public." Mr Yeung added.
Dragonair, an affiliate member of oneworld, is a Hong Kong-based airline operating a fleet of 32 passenger aircraft and serving 33 regional destinations, including 17 cities in Mainland China. Dragonair has been recognised for its product and service quality, and was voted for two consecutive years "World's Best Regional Airline" in the annual World Airline Survey run by Skytrax in 2010 and 2011. Dragonair is part of the Cathay Pacific Group, providing seamless connectivity for passengers to more than 140 cities around the globe.