THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW 10 About YEARS The Master Plan 2030 is a very detailed study. We have tried to cover as many issues as possible that are relevant to the future development of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to enable the community to have an informed discussion, and hopefully leading to an educated consensus on this very important subject. HKIA is growing busier every day and the time for making a decision on its future development is running short. Both Options 1 and 2 require long lead time for conducting further detailed studies and obtaining regulatory approvals before works can commence. Option 2, in particular, requires a construction lead time of about 10 years as shown in Figure 8.1. With economic activities forecast to grow at an enormous rate on the Mainland, Hong Kong – one of the major gateways to China – stands to benefit economically from the inevitable rise in demand for aviation services. An expanded HKIA is the key. While Options 1 and 2 have their respective pros and cons, only the latter can fully meet Hong Kong’s long-term needs. In view of the vibrant aviation market, both globally and regionally, many of our neighbouring airports have laid out expansion plans to cope with this rising demand in air travel. Unless we put our act together, it is highly possible that our status as an international aviation hub would be weakened. Traffic lost would be hard to re-gain. If we are to seize the golden opportunity before us, create a wealth of new benefits for Hong Kong and retain our position as the world’s premier aviation hub, the time to act is now. of construction lead time required for Option 2 56