Discussion on Session A

AUTHORS' INTRODUCTIONS

Mr J. K. M. Henry, Paper 1

The Airport at Hong Kong was situated in the urban area surrounding the harbour. The runway was built out into the harbour, and the terminal building and apron were sited at its landward end, hard up against a heavily built-up area, Fig. 1.

The air traffic at Hong Kong had been increasing at over 20% annually and passenger movements were now approaching one million; only about 10% being transit passengers. The traffic was handled by 18 airline companies; all flights were international and government passenger controls had to be strict.

The choice of a two-level system for the basic handling unit of the terminal building was governed by a combination of two circumstances. Firstly, the Government requirement for occasional Customs search of complete outbound flights, in addition to all inbound flights, led to the adoption of reversible Customs channels. Secondly, the very large numbers of relatives and friends accompanying the passengers called for effective segregation of departures and arrivals in the public areas. It was found that, with reversible Customs channels, it was hard to achieve segregation with a one-level system, and that a better solution lay in the two-level layout with Government controls and arrivals concourse on the ground floor and departures at first floor level. The Health inspection halls were sited as a separate building on the air