Chek Lap Kok International Airport
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Hong Kong International Airport is an
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...
on the island of
Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...
in western
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predecessor, the former
Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was an international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply K ...
. Opened in 1998, Hong Kong International Airport is the world's busiest cargo gateway and one of the world's busiest passenger airports. It is also home to one of the world's largest passenger terminal buildings, which was the largest when the airport opened. The airport is operated by
Airport Authority Hong Kong The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA or AAHK) is the statutory body of the government of Hong Kong that is responsible for the operations of the Hong Kong International Airport. It is governed by the Airport Authority Ordinance (Cap. 483). His ...
, a statutory body of the
Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
established on 1 December 1995. It runs 24 hours a day and is the primary hub for
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...
,
Greater Bay Airlines Greater Bay Airlines Company Limited (GBA), commonly known as Greater Bay Airlines (), is a Hong Kong–based carrier established in 2020. The company's inaugural passenger flight (from Hong Kong to Bangkok) was conducted in July 2022. Its hea ...
,
Hong Kong Airlines Hong Kong Airlines Limited (HKA), operating as Hong Kong Airlines (), is an airline based in Hong Kong, with its headquarters in the Tung Chung district and its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. It was established in 2006 as a m ...
,
HK Express Hong Kong Express Airways or HK Express (HKE) is a Hong Kong–based low-cost airline fully owned by Cathay Pacific Airways. It provides scheduled air service to 27 destinations in Asia, including China, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, S ...
, and
Air Hong Kong Air Hong Kong (stylised as air Hongkong) is an all-cargo airline based in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, with its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline operates an express freight network to 13 destinations in nine countries, in ...
(cargo carrier). The airport is one of the hubs of
Oneworld Oneworld (Computer reservations system, CRS: *O, stylised as oneworld) is a global airline alliance consisting of 14 member airlines. It was founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance f ...
, and also one of the Asia-Pacific cargo hubs for
UPS Airlines UPS Airlines is a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky, US. One of the largest cargo airlines worldwide World's largest airlines#Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions), in terms of freight volume flown, UPS Airlines f ...
. It is a
focus city An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the ...
for
China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; zh, t=中華航空, poj=Tiong-hôa Hâng-khong, p=Zhōnghuá Hángkōng, first=t, c=, s=) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). It is one of Taiwan's two major airlines, along with E ...
and
China Eastern Airlines China Eastern Airlines (branded as China Eastern) is a major airline in China, headquartered in Changning, Shanghai, Changning, Shanghai. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Southern Airlines. ...
.
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utilizes Hong Kong as a stopover point for their flights. Hong Kong International Airport, which employed about 60,000 people at the start of 2024, is an important contributor to Hong Kong's economy. The economic contribution generated by Hong Kong's air travel industry in 2018 amounted to US$33 billion, 10.2% of Hong Kong's
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...
. More than 100 airlines operate flights from the airport to over 180 cities across the globe. In 2015, HKIA handled 68.5 million passengers, making it the 8th busiest airport worldwide by passenger traffic and the 4th busiest airport worldwide by international passenger traffic. Since 2010, it has also surpassed
Memphis International Airport Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...
to become the world's busiest airport by cargo traffic (excluding 2020 due to disruptions related to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
).


History

Chek Lap Kok Airport was designed as a replacement for the former Hong Kong International Airport (commonly known as Kai Tak Airport), built in 1925. Located in the densely built-up
Kowloon City District Kowloon City District is one of the districts of Hong Kong, 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the city of Kowloon and cut through by Boundary Street. It had a population of 381,352 in 2001, and increased to 418,732 in 2016. The di ...
with a single runway extending into
Kowloon Bay Kowloon Bay (Chinese: 九龍灣) is a bay within Victoria Harbour and a neighbourhood within Kowloon, Hong Kong. The bay is located at the east of the Kowloon Peninsula and north of Hong Kong Island. It is the eastern portion of Victor ...
, Hong Kong Airport had turned on the runway lights for expansion to cope with steadily increasing air traffic. By the 1990s, Kai Tak had become one of the world's busiest airports, being a major hub for multiple passenger airlines along with a major cargo and maintenance hub – it far exceeded its annual passenger and cargo design capacities, and one out of every three flights experienced delays, largely due to a lack of space for aircraft, gates, and a second runway. In addition,
noise mitigation Noise control or noise mitigation is a set of strategies to reduce noise pollution or to reduce the impact of that noise, whether outdoors or indoors. Overview The main areas of noise mitigation or abatement are: transportation noise control, a ...
measures restricted nighttime flights, as severe
noise pollution Noise pollution, or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise or sound with potential harmful effects on humans and animals. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport and propagation systems.Senate Publi ...
(exceeding 105 
dB(A) A-weighting is a form of frequency weighting and the most commonly used of a family of curves defined in the International standard IEC 61672:2003 and various national standards relating to the measurement of sound pressure level. A-weighti ...
in
Kowloon City Kowloon City is an area in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is part of Kowloon City District. Compared with the council area of Kowloon City District, the Kowloon City area is History As early as in the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), Kowloon ...
) adversely affected an estimated 340,000 people at least. A 1974 planning study by the
Civil Aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, which can be both private and commercial. Most countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and ...
and
Public Works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...
departments identified the small island of Chek Lap Kok, off
Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...
, as a possible future airport replacement site. Far from the congested city centre, flight paths would be routed over the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
rather than crowded urban areas, enabling efficient round-the-clock operation of multiple runways. The Chek Lap Kok (CLK) airport master plan and civil engineering studies were completed between 1982 and 1983, respectively. However, in February 1983, the government shelved the project for financial and economic reasons. In 1988, the Port & Airport Development Strategy (PADS) study was undertaken by consultants, headed by Mott MacDonald Hong Kong Limited, reporting in December 1989. This study looked at forecasts for both airport and port traffic to the year 2011 and came up with three recommended strategies for overall strategic development in Hong Kong. One of the three assumed maintaining the existing airport at Kai Tak; a second assumed a possible airport in the Western Harbour between
Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...
and
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
, and the third assumed a new airport at Chek Lap Kok. The consultants produced detailed analyses for each scenario, enabling the government to consider these appraisals for each of the three "Recommended Strategies". In October 1989, the Governor of Hong Kong announced to the Legislative Council that a decision had been made on the territory's long-term port and airport development strategy. The strategy was to be adopted that included a replacement airport at Chek Lap Kok and incorporating new container terminals 8 and 9 at
Stonecutters Island Stonecutters Island or Ngong Shuen Chau is a former island in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Following land reclamation, it is now attached to the Kowloon Peninsula. Fauna The island once boasted at least three mating pairs of sulphur-crested ...
and east of the
Tsing Yi Tsing Yi (), sometimes referred to as Tsing Yi Island, is an island in the New Territories of Hong Kong, to the northwest of Hong Kong Island and south of Tsuen Wan. With an area of , the island has been extended drastically by reclamation alo ...
island, respectively. In the PADS study, the consultants advised that the earliest the airport could be opened was January 1998. However, in reaching the government's decision, this date was changed to January 1997, six months before the
handover of Hong Kong The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony, which began in 1841. Hong Kong was established as a specia ...
to China. Construction of the new airport began in 1991. As construction progressed, an agreement was reached with China that as much as possible of the airport would be completed before the handover to China in July 1997. Former British Prime Minister,
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
, opened the
Tsing Ma Bridge Tsing Ma Bridge is a bridge in Hong Kong that connects Tsing Yi and Ma Wan islands. It is the world's 17th-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at the time of its completion. The bridge was named after the two islands ...
, the main access to
Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...
and the airport and its supporting community in April 1997. Soon after, the airport itself opened in July 1998. The construction period was extremely rushed; specialists considered that only a 10–20 years period was sufficient for this massive project. Another cause for this rush was due to the uncertain future of the airport construction after the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China. Shortly after the then-British colonial government of Hong Kong announced plans to construct the new airport, the Chinese government in Beijing began voicing objections to various aspects of the massive project, which prompted financial institutions to delay extending project finance. Without access to this financing, many of the companies who had secured contracts to build various portions of the project halted the construction, resulting in delays that pushed the actual opening of the airport which was originally planned to take place before the transition in sovereignty until one year after. As agreements were reached with the government in China, Beijing withdrew most of its objections and work then continued, albeit behind schedule. Hong Kong International Airport was built on a large
artificial island An artificial island or man-made island is an island that has been Construction, constructed by humans rather than formed through natural processes. Other definitions may suggest that artificial islands are lands with the characteristics of hum ...
formed by flattening and levelling the former
Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...
and
Lam Chau Lam Chau () was a former island in Hong Kong. It was one of the two original islands that made up the site of the current Hong Kong International Airport. This small island lay to the west of Chek Lap Kok and north of Lantau Island. It had an ...
islands ( and respectively) and
reclaiming In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change (i. ...
of the adjacent seabed. The airport site with its reclamation, added nearly 1% to Hong Kong's total surface area, connecting to the north side of Lantau Island near
Tung Chung Tung Chung ( " eastern stream") is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of Tung C ...
new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...
. Construction of the new airport was only part of the
Airport Core Programme The Airport Core Programme was a series of infrastructure projects centred on the new Hong Kong International Airport during the early 1990s. The programme was part of the Port and Airport Development Strategy, commonly known as the Rose Gar ...
, which also involved the construction of new roads and rail links to the airport, with associated bridges and tunnels, and major land reclamation projects on both
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
and in
Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...
. The project holds the record for the most expensive airport project ever, according to
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
. The construction of the new airport was also voted as one of the Top 10 Construction Achievements of the 20th Century at the ConExpo conference in 1999. The detailed design for the airport terminal was awarded to a consortium led by Mott Connell (the Hong Kong office of UK consultant Mott MacDonald) with
British Airports Authority Heathrow Airport Holdings is a company that operates and manages Heathrow Airport based in London, England. It was formed by the privatisation of the British Airports Authority as BAA plc as part of Margaret Thatcher's privatisation of governme ...
as the specialist designers for airport-related aspects,
Foster and Partners Foster and Partners (also Foster + Partners) is a British international architecture firm with its headquarters in London, England. It was founded in 1967 by British architect and designer Norman Foster. The firm has been involved in the desig ...
as the architects, and
Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation offering engineering, design, planning, project management, and consultant, consulting services for bu ...
as the specialist structural designers for the roof. Mott Connell was the designer for the foundations, all other structural components, and the mechanical and electrical work. The sides of the terminals, predominantly glass, were designed to break during high-speed winds, relieving pressure and allowing the terminal to withstand an intense typhoon. The airport was officially opened in an
opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.
by the
President of the People's Republic of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...
and
General Secretary of the Communist Party The title of General Secretary or First Secretary is commonly used for the leaders of most communist parties. When a communist party is the ruling party of a socialist state—often labeled as communist states by external observers—the general s ...
Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...
at noon
Hong Kong Time Hong Kong Time (abbreviation: HKT; ) is the time in Hong Kong, observed at UTC+08:00 all year round. The Hong Kong Observatory is the official timekeeper of the Hong Kong Time. It is indicated as Asia/Hong_Kong in the IANA time zone database ...
on 2 July 1998. Hours later,
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...
, carrying the
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, landed at the new airport and became the first foreign visitor to arrive at the new airport. The actual operation of the airport commenced on 6 July 1998, concluding the six-year construction that cost 60 billion US dollar. On that day at 06:25
Hong Kong Time Hong Kong Time (abbreviation: HKT; ) is the time in Hong Kong, observed at UTC+08:00 all year round. The Hong Kong Observatory is the official timekeeper of the Hong Kong Time. It is indicated as Asia/Hong_Kong in the IANA time zone database ...
,
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...
Flight CX 889 from New York
JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is t ...
became the first
commercial flight Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...
to land at the airport, pipping the original CX 292 from Rome which was the scheduled as the first arrival. However, the airport had already started to experience some technical difficulties on the first day of opening. The
flight information display system A flight information display system (FIDS) is a computer system used in airports to display flight information to passengers, in which a computer system controls mechanical or electronic display boards or monitors in order to display arrivin ...
(FIDS) had suddenly shut down which caused long delays. Shortly afterwards, the cargo-communication link with Kai Tak, where all the necessary data was stored (some still stored there then), went down. During the same period, someone accidentally deleted an important database for cargo services. This meant that cargo had to be manually stored. At one point, the airport had to turn away all air cargo and freight headed for and exported from Hong Kong (except food and medical supplies) while it sorted out the huge mess. HKIA simply could not keep up without an automated assistant-computer system. For three to five months after its opening, it suffered various severe organisational, mechanical, and technical problems that almost crippled the airport and its operations. Computer glitches were mostly to blame for the major crisis.
Lau Kong-wah Ray Lau Kong-wah, JP (born 22 June 1957, Hong Kong), is a former Hong Kong Government official and former member of both the Legislative Council and the Executive Council. Until 2020, he was Secretary for Home Affairs. Lau was vice-chairm ...
, a Hong Kong politician, was quoted saying, "This was meant to be a first-class project, but it has turned into a ninth-class airport and a disgrace. Our airport has become the laughingstock of the world." At one time, the government reopened the
cargo terminal In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in case ...
at Kai Tak Airport to handle freight traffic because of a breakdown at the new cargo terminal, named Super Terminal One (ST1). However, after six months, the airport started to operate normally. On 31 July 2000,
Todd Salimuchai Todd Salimuchai (born c. 1970) is a self-described Thai or Burmese former opium poppy farmer, best known as the only man to ever attempt an aircraft hijacking at the Hong Kong International Airport. Early life Like many members of tribal people ...
, a regularised illegal immigrant in Hong Kong with no provable nationality, forced his way through a security checkpoint using a fake pistol, took a woman hostage, and boarded a Cathay Pacific aircraft. He was demanded to be flown to
Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
, which he claimed was his native country but had refused to admit him due to his lack of documents. He surrendered to the police two and a half hours later. Officially opened in June 2007, the second airport terminal, called T2 (check-in facility only), is linked with the MTR Airport Express on a new platform. The terminal also features a new shopping mall, SkyPlaza, providing a large variety of shops and restaurants, together with a few entertainment facilities. T2 also houses a 36-bay coach station for buses to and from mainland China and 56 airline check-in counters, as well as customs and immigration facilities. Besides T2, the SkyCity Nine Eagles Golf Course was opened in 2007 whereas the second airport hotel, the Hong Kong SkyCity
Marriott Hotel Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 160 h ...
, and a permanent cross-boundary ferry terminal, the
Skypier Skypier Terminal () is a cross-border facility that includes a ferry pier and a coach bay integrated within Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is operated by Hong Kong International Airport Ferry T ...
, began operations in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Development around T2 also includes the AsiaWorld-Expo which started operation in late 2005. A second passenger concourse, the North Satellite Concourse (NSC), opened in 2010, followed by the Midfield Concourse in December 2015. During August 2019, the airport was shut down multiple times as demonstrations were held inside the airport during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, over 160 flights were cancelled as both the arrivals and departures sections of the airport were occupied. The third runway, also known as the North Runway, was opened in July 2022. It is the first part of the
Hong Kong International Airport Master Plan 2030 Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA"), is connected to about 180 destinations, through over 1,000 daily flights by more than 100 airlines. Hong Kong is 5 hours away from half the world's population, so in order to meet future demand until 2030 ...
to be implemented. The third runway is 650 hectares in land area, roughly the size of
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
. The Centre Runway and Terminal 2 of the airport were then closed to facilitate construction works, expansion and upgrades. The Centre Runway was reopened on the 28th of November 2024. Terminal 2 is undergoing major expansion and is expected to re-open in 2025.


Composition

Hong Kong International Airport covers an area of 4,707 acres or . The airport has a total of 88 boarding gates, with 77
jet bridge A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...
gates (1–21, 23–36, 40–50, 60–71, 201–219) and 11 virtual gates (228–230, 511–513, 520–524) which are used as assembly points for passengers, who are then ferried to the aircraft by apron buses. Of the 77 jet bridges, seven (Gates 5, 23, 60, 62, 64, 212, 216) are capable of handling the
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...
, the current users of which are
Asiana Airlines Asiana Airlines Inc. ( ) is a South Korean airline headquartered in Seoul.Home
." Asiana Airlines. Retrieved 13 September 2 ...
,
British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
,
Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...
,
Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...
and
Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...
.
Korean Air Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. (KAL; ) is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations, and international flights. It is owned by the Hanjin, Hanjin Group. The present-day Korean Air tra ...
and
China Southern Airlines China Southern Airlines (branded as China Southern) is a major airline in China, headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Eastern Airlines. Established on 1 ...
previously operated a route to HKIA from
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
and
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
respectively using the Airbus A380, but these airlines decided to not use them due to unprofitable nature of the aircraft type.
Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...
,
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...
and
Thai Airways International Thai Airways International plc () is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1961 as a joint venture between SAS and Thai Airways Company, the airline has its corporate headquarters in Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Chatuchak district, Bang ...
previously operated services to Hong Kong from
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
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and
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
using the Airbus A380, though they retired the aircraft types early due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In addition to Chek Lap Kok, the airport occupies what was
Lam Chau Lam Chau () was a former island in Hong Kong. It was one of the two original islands that made up the site of the current Hong Kong International Airport. This small island lay to the west of Chek Lap Kok and north of Lantau Island. It had an ...
.


Terminal 1

Terminal 1 of the HKIA, with an area measuring , is one of the largest passenger
airport terminal An airport terminal is a main building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft. The buildings that provide access t ...
buildings in the world, after the likes of
Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 Terminal 3 is an airport terminal at Dubai International Airport, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. When completed and opened on 14 October 2008, it was the largest building in the world by floor area and is currently the world's largest a ...
and Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3. Opened on 6 July 1998, Terminal 1 was the largest airport passenger terminal building, with a total gross floor area of . It briefly conceded the status to
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
's
Suvarnabhumi Airport Suvarnabhumi Airport is the main international airport serving Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. Located mostly in Racha Thewa subdistrict, Bang Phli district, Samut Prakan province, it covers an area of , making it one of the biggest intern ...
() when the latter opened on 15 September 2006, but reclaimed the title when the East Hall was expanded, bringing the total area to its current size of . Terminal 1's title as the world's largest was surrendered to Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 on 29 February 2008. In late 2021, the air side of Terminal 1 started segregating mainland Chinese flights and other international flights into two separate zones, "Green Zone" and "Orange Zone", to reduce the risk of cross infection of novel coronavirus between travellers and airport workers serving different destinations. On 1 November 2022, the sky bridge opened as part of a wider HK$9 billion airport upgrade, connecting Terminal 1 to the T1 Satellite Concourse (T1S). Lined with glass floor panels at the edges, the 200 metre long and 28 metre high bridge, the largest of its kind, is high enough for an
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...
to pass underneath.


T1 Satellite Concourse

In 2007, HKIA began the construction of a two-story T1 Satellite Concourse (T1S), previously known as the North Satellite Concourse (NSC), which opened in December 2009. This concourse was designed for
narrow-body aircraft A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width. In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with m ...
and is equipped with 10
jet bridge A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...
s. The concourse has a floor area of and will be able to serve more than five million passengers annually. T1S was built so the airport could accommodate at least 90 percent of its passengers by aerobridges. It has two levels (one for departures and one for arrivals). A new sky bridge connecting Terminal 1 and T1S opened in November 2022, allowing passengers to walk above taxiing planes, saving time from taking the airport shuttle bus.


T1 Midfield Concourse

On 25 January 2011,
Airport Authority Hong Kong The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA or AAHK) is the statutory body of the government of Hong Kong that is responsible for the operations of the Hong Kong International Airport. It is governed by the Airport Authority Ordinance (Cap. 483). His ...
(AA) unveiled phase 1 of its midfield development project which was targeted for completion by the end of 2015. The midfield area is located to the west of Terminal 1 between the two existing runways. It was the then last piece of land on the airport island available for large-scale development. This includes 20 aircraft parking stands, three of which are wide enough to serve the
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...
and cater for an additional 10 million passengers annually. Passengers reach the concourse through an extension of the underground automated people mover. A joint venture of Mott MacDonald and Arup led the design of the project.
Gammon Construction Gammon Construction Limited is a Hong Kong construction and engineering contractor headquartered in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong. In addition to local construction projects, it is also involved in the construction and engineering of various projects in ...
undertook the construction work. The Concourse began operations on 28 December 2015, and the first flight that used it was the HX658 operated by the
Hong Kong Airlines Hong Kong Airlines Limited (HKA), operating as Hong Kong Airlines (), is an airline based in Hong Kong, with its headquarters in the Tung Chung district and its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. It was established in 2006 as a m ...
flying from
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
to
Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
. On 31 March 2016, the concourse was officially inaugurated in a ceremony marking its full commissioning.


Former Terminal 2

Former Terminal 2 with an area measuring , together with the SkyPlaza, opened on 28 February 2007 along with the opening of the Airport station's Platform 3. It was only a
low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
check-in and processing facility for departing passengers with no gates or arrival facilities (passengers were transported underground to gates at Terminal 1). The SkyPlaza was situated within. Former Terminal 2 was shut down on 28 November 2019 at 23:00 to make way for a new satellite terminal from the three-runway system.


Other buildings

Cathay Pacific City Cathay Pacific City (), often referred as Cathay City, is the headquarters of Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's flag carrier, flag-carrying airline. It is located at Hong Kong International Airport, on the south side. History The airline built Cathay ...
, the head office of
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...
and
Air Hong Kong Air Hong Kong (stylised as air Hongkong) is an all-cargo airline based in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, with its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline operates an express freight network to 13 destinations in nine countries, in ...
, is located on the airport island. CNAC House, the office for
Air China Air China, officially Air China Limited, ( zh, s=中国国际航空公司, labels=no, ''Zhōngguó guójì hángkōng gōngsī'') is a major Chinese airline and the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China. It is headquartered in Shunyi ...
is also located in the airport complex, together with the Civil Aviation Department headquarters.
HAECO Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) is an aircraft engineering and maintenance firm with its head office located at Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the ...
also has its head office on the airport property.
HK Express Hong Kong Express Airways or HK Express (HKE) is a Hong Kong–based low-cost airline fully owned by Cathay Pacific Airways. It provides scheduled air service to 27 destinations in Asia, including China, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, S ...
has its head office on the airport property, in what was previously the Dragonair House, head office of
Cathay Dragon Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (), originally known as Dragonair until 2016 and finally Cathay Dragon () until 2020, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong Inter ...
. The
Government Flying Service The Hong Kong Government Flying Service (HKGFS) is a disciplined unit and paramilitary flying organisation of the Government of Hong Kong. The service has its head office in, and operates from, the southwestern end of Hong Kong International ...
(GFS) has its head office building in the airport. The head office of the Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) is in the Facility Building on the airport property.


Airport expansion projects

In June 2010, the
Airport Authority An airport authority is an entity responsible for the operation and oversight of an airport or group of airports. The Airports Council International is the world trade association of airport authorities. In some countries, when the authority of an ...
unveiled plans to develop in stages the vast midfield site of the airport island. Stage 1 will involve the construction of a new 20-gate passenger concourse to be built in two phases (completion 2015 and 2020) with 11 gates in phase 1 growing to 20 gates in phase 2. The configuration of the new concourse is similar to those at
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi Suvarnabhumi Airport is the main international airport serving Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. Located mostly in Racha Thewa subdistrict, Bang Phli district, Samut Prakan province, it covers an area of , making it one of the biggest intern ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
(Terminal 1),
Chicago–O'Hare Chicago O'Hare International Airport is the primary international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop business district. The airport is operated by the ...
(Global Terminal),
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
(McNamara Terminal),
London–Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
(Terminals 2 and 5),
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
(TBIT),
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
(Terminal 2),
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, Seoul–Incheon, Washington–Dulles and
Felipe Ángeles International Airport Felipe Ángeles International Airport , also known as Mexico City Felipe Ángeles International Airport or simply Mexico City-AIFA, is an international airport located in Zumpango, State of Mexico, north of Mexico City. Originally named Santa ...
(
Zumpango Zumpango is a municipality located in the northeastern part of the state of Mexico in Zumpango Region. It lies directly north of Mexico City within the Greater Mexico City urban area. The municipal seat, Zumpango de Ocampo, lies near Lake Zumpango ...
). After stage 1 of midfield development is completed in 2020, there will be sufficient lands remaining for further new concourses to be built as and when demand for them materialises.


Master Plan 2030

One year after, on 2 June 2011, the Airport Authority announced and released their latest version of a 20-year blueprint for the airport's development, the ''
Hong Kong International Airport Master Plan 2030 Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA"), is connected to about 180 destinations, through over 1,000 daily flights by more than 100 airlines. Hong Kong is 5 hours away from half the world's population, so in order to meet future demand until 2030 ...
''. The study took three years and according to the authority, nine consulting organisations have been hired for the research, observation, planning and advice. The main focus is to improve the overall capacity and aircraft handling ability of the airport. Based on this, two options have been developed.


Option 1: Two-runway system

To maintain the two-runway system, there would be enhancements to the terminal and apron facilities to increase the airport's capacity. This option would enable the airport to handle a maximum of 420,000 flight movements per year, with annual passenger and cargo throughput increased to 74 million and six million tonnes respectively. The approximate cost of this plan was $23.4 billion
Hong Kong dollar The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of Hong Kong. It is divided into 100 cents. Historically, it was also divided into 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong an ...
s in 2010 prices. The
Airport Authority An airport authority is an entity responsible for the operation and oversight of an airport or group of airports. The Airports Council International is the world trade association of airport authorities. In some countries, when the authority of an ...
estimated that the airport would reach its maximum runway capacity sometime around 2020 if no extra runway were to be added.


Option 2: Three-runway system

This plan focussed on adding a third runway to the north of the
Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...
, the island the airport is built on, by land reclamation, using
deep cement mixing Deep cement mixing (DCM) is a geotechnical engineering deep foundation ground improvement technique where a binder material, typically cement, is injected into the ground for ground stabilisation and land reclamation. The technique can also be use ...
, of about . Associated facilities, additional terminals, airfield and apron facilities, would be built as well, and, combined with the new runway, it was estimated that the airport would be able to handle a maximum of 620,000 flights per year (102 per hour, or about one flight every 36 seconds), and meet forecast annual passenger and cargo throughput of about 97 million and 8.9 million tonnes by 2030 respectively. There were possible drawbacks. Development costs were a concern: although the proposal would increase the number of direct jobs associated with HKIA to 150,000 by 2030 and generate an ENPV of HK$912 billion (in 2009 dollars), the estimated cost was approximately $86.2 billion (2010) Hong Kong Dollars. There were also environmental and local noise pollution concerns. On 20 March 2012, the
Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
adopted this option as the official expansion plan. The third runway, with its dedicated passenger concourse (T2 Concourse), was built parallel to the current two runways on reclaimed land directly north of the existing airport island. The third runway (referred to as the North runway) began operations in July 2022, while the original North runway (re-designated as the Centre runway) was closed for reconfiguration until 2024. Other facilities of the Three-runway system project include the T2 expansion, new T2 Concourse, automatic people mover, and
baggage handling system A baggage handling system is a type of conveyor system installed in airports that transports checked luggage from ticket counters to areas where the bags can be loaded onto airplanes. A baggage handling system also transports checked baggage comi ...
.


Airlines and destinations


Passenger


Cargo


Statistics


Operations

The airport is operated by the
Airport Authority Hong Kong The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA or AAHK) is the statutory body of the government of Hong Kong that is responsible for the operations of the Hong Kong International Airport. It is governed by the Airport Authority Ordinance (Cap. 483). His ...
, a statutory body wholly owned by the Government of
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a Special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the List of ...
. The airport has three parallel runways, all of which are in length and wide. The south runway has a Category II Precision Approach, while the centre runway has the higher Category IIIA rating, which allows pilots to land in only visibility. The two runways have a capacity of over 60 aircraft movements an hour. The airport is upgrading ATC and runways so that they can handle 68 movements per hour. Normally, the centre runway (07C/25C; until 1 December 2021 the north runway 07L/25R) is used for landing passenger planes. The south runway (07R/25L) is used for passenger planes taking off and cargo flights due to its proximity to the cargo terminal. A third runway (designated 07L/25R) to their north has opened in mid-2022, while the Centre runway has been closed for upgrades. When all three runways are opened, it is estimated that the airport will be able to handle a maximum of 620,000 flights per year (102 per hour, or about one flight every 36 seconds). There are 49 frontal stands at the main passenger concourse, 28 remote stands and 25 cargo stands. There are also five parking bays at the Northwest Concourse. A satellite concourse with 10 frontal stands for narrow-body aircraft was commissioned to the north of the main concourse at the end of 2009, bringing the total number of frontal stands at the airport to 59. The airport was the busiest for passenger traffic in Asia in 2010, and the world's busiest airport for cargo traffic in 2010. In terms of international traffic, the airport is the third busiest for passenger traffic and the busiest for cargo since its operation in 1998. Over 95 international airlines are providing about 900 scheduled passenger and all-cargo flights each day between Hong Kong and some 160 destinations worldwide. About 76 percent of these flights are operated with wide-body jets. There is also an average of approximately 31 non-scheduled passenger and cargo flights each week. The operation of scheduled air services to and from
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
is facilitated by air services agreements between Hong Kong and other countries. Since the opening of HKIA, the
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
has implemented a policy of progressive liberalisation of air services. Many
low-cost airlines A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
have started various regional routes to compete head-on with full-service carriers on trunk routes. The airport's long-term expansion opportunities are subject to variables. The airport opened its third runway in July 2022 as part of a HK$141.5 billion expansion project that would increase its land footprint by 50%. On the other hand, there exists only one airway between Hong Kong and mainland China, and this single route is often and easily backed up causing delays on both sides. In addition, China requires that aircraft flying the single air route between Hong Kong and the mainland must be at an altitude of at least 15,000 feet. Talks are underway to persuade the Chinese military to relax its airspace restriction because of worsening air traffic congestion at the airport. Other than that,
Hong Kong Airport Authority The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA or AAHK) is the statutory body of the government of Hong Kong that is responsible for the operations of the Hong Kong International Airport. It is governed by the Airport Authority Ordinance (Cap. 483). His ...
is cooperating with other airports in the area to relieve air traffic and in the future,
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
may act as a regional airport while Hong Kong receives all the international flights.


Air traffic

The
Government Flying Service The Hong Kong Government Flying Service (HKGFS) is a disciplined unit and paramilitary flying organisation of the Government of Hong Kong. The service has its head office in, and operates from, the southwestern end of Hong Kong International ...
provides short and long-range search and rescue services, police support, medical evacuation and general-purpose flights for the Government.


Passenger facilities

Despite its size, the passenger terminal was designed for convenience. The layout and signage, moving walkways and the automated people mover help passengers move through the building. The HKIA Automated People Mover, a driverless
people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...
system with 3 stations transports passengers between the check-in area and the gates. The trains travel at . The airport also contains an
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
theatre that has the largest screen in Hong Kong. The theatre is located in Terminal 2, level 6 and can seat 350 persons at a time.


Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre

The Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre (HKBAC) is located within the airport and has its terminal and facilities separate from the public terminal. It provides services for executive aircraft and passengers, including a passenger lounge, private rooms and showers, business centre facilities, ground handling, baggage handling, fuelling, security, customs and flight planning. Designated spaces and hangars are also provided at the HKBAC for private aircraft. HKBAC has broken ground on a HK$400 million ($51 million) expansion. The project, which will double the airport's handling capacity for business jet movements, is expected to be completed in 2025.


Intermodal transportation hub

To sustain the growth of passengers, the Airport Authority formulated a "push and pull through" strategy to expand its connections to new sources of passengers and cargo. This means adapting the network to the rapidly growing markets in China and in particular to the
Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...
region (PRD). In 2003, a new Airport-Mainland Coach Station opened. The coach station has a waiting lounge and sheltered bays for ten coaches. Many buses operate each day to transport passengers between HKIA and major cities on the Mainland. The Coach Station was relocated to the ground floor (level 3) of Terminal 2 in 2007. The 36 bays at the new Coach Station allow cross-border coaches to make 320 trips a day carrying passengers between the airport and 90 cities and towns in the PRD. Local tour and hotel coaches also operate from T2. The coach station at T2 has shops and waiting lounges as well as a mainland coach service centre which gathers all operators together. In late September 2003, the SkyPier high-speed ferry terminal opened. Passengers arriving at the SkyPier board buses to the terminal and arriving air passengers board ferries at the pier for their ride back to the PRD. Passengers travelling in both directions can bypass customs and immigration formalities, which reduces transit time. Four ports –
Shekou Shekou () is an area at the southern tip of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, Guangdong Province, China. It faces Yuen Long, Hong Kong across the Deep Bay, China, Shenzhen Bay. It has been designated as a free- ...
,
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
, Macau and
Humen The Humen, also known as the Bocca Tigris or the Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south. It is located near Humen Town in China's Guangdong Province. It is the site ...
(
Dongguan Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...
) – were initially served. As of August 2007, SkyPier serves Shenzhen's
Shekou Shekou () is an area at the southern tip of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, Guangdong Province, China. It faces Yuen Long, Hong Kong across the Deep Bay, China, Shenzhen Bay. It has been designated as a free- ...
and Fuyong, Dongguan's
Humen The Humen, also known as the Bocca Tigris or the Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south. It is located near Humen Town in China's Guangdong Province. It is the site ...
,
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
,
Zhongshan Zhongshan ( zh, c=中山 ), alternately romanized via Cantonese as Chungshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is n ...
and
Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...
. Passengers travelling from Shekou and Macau can complete airline check-in procedures with participating airlines before boarding the ferries and go straight to the boarding gate for the flight at HKIA. In 2009, the permanent SkyPier Terminal opened. The permanent ferry terminal is equipped with four berths, but the terminal is designed to accommodate eight berths. Transfer desks and baggage handling facilities are included, and the terminal is directly connected to the airport automatic people mover system.


Baggage and cargo facilities

Ramp handling services are provided by
Hong Kong Airport Services Limited Hong Kong Airport Services Limited (HAS by Cathay) was founded in 1995 and began operations in July 1998 with the opening of Hong Kong International Airport. It employs approximately 3,100 people and owns 3,000 ground-support equipment and vehic ...
(HAS), Jardine Air Terminal Services Limited and SATS HK Limited. Their services include the handling of mail and passenger baggage, transportation of cargo, aerobridge operations and the operation of passenger stairways. The airport has an advanced
baggage handling system A baggage handling system is a type of conveyor system installed in airports that transports checked luggage from ticket counters to areas where the bags can be loaded onto airplanes. A baggage handling system also transports checked baggage comi ...
(BHS), the main section of which is located in the basement level of the passenger terminal, and a separate remote transfer facility at the western end of the main concourse for the handling of tight connection transfer bags. HKIA handles over five million tonnes of cargo annually.
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (), commonly known as Hactl, is one of the leading air cargo terminal operators in the world. Located at Hong Kong International Airport, it handled a total throughput of 1.65 million tonnes of cargo in 2018 ...
operates one of the two air cargo terminals at the airport. Its headquarters, the SuperTerminal 1, is the world's second-largest stand-alone air cargo handling facility, after the opening of the West Cargo Handling Area of the
Shanghai Pudong International Airport Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of the two international airports serving Shanghai, China. Pudong Airport serves both international flights and a smaller number of domestic flights, while the city's other major airport, Shanghai ...
on 26 March 2008. The designed capacity is 2.6 million tonnes of freight a year. The second air cargo terminal is operated by Asia Airfreight Terminal Company Limited, and has a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes a year. DHL operates the DHL Central Asia Hub cargo facility which handles 35,000 parcels and 40,000 packages per hour.
Hongkong Post Hongkong Post is a government department of Hong Kong responsible for postal services, though operated as a trading fund. Founded in 1841, it was known as ''Postal Department'' or ''Post Office'' () before the handover of Hong Kong ...
operates the Air Mail Centre (AMC) and processes 700,000 packages per day. It is envisaged that HKIA's total air cargo capacity per annum will reach nine million tonnes ultimately.


Aircraft maintenance services

Both line and base maintenance services are undertaken by
Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) is an aircraft engineering and maintenance firm with its head office located at Hong Kong International Airport. It is a member of the Swire Swire Group ( zh, t=太古集團) is a ...
(HAECO), while
China Aircraft Services Limited China Aircraft Services Limited (), better known as CASL (), is a major provider of aircraft line and base maintenance, ground support equipment services, and cabin cleaning services at Hong Kong International Airport. History CASL was founded i ...
(CASL) and Pan Asia Pacific Aviation Services Limited carry out line maintenance. Line maintenance services include routine servicing of aircraft performed during normal turnaround periods and regularly scheduled layover periods. Base maintenance covers all airframe maintenance services and for this
HAECO Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) is an aircraft engineering and maintenance firm with its head office located at Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the ...
has a three-bay hangar, which can accommodate up to three
Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The ''Advanced Series 300'' was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, target ...
aircraft and two
Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...
aircraft, and an adjoining support workshop. HAECO also has the world's largest mobile hangar, weighing over 400 tons. It can be used to enclose half of a
wide-body A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as a jumbo jet, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . ...
aeroplane so that the whole facility can fully enclose four 747s when the mobile hangar is used. On 29 May 2009, CASL opened its first aircraft maintenance hangar in the maintenance area of the airport. The new hangar occupies an area of about and can accommodate one wide-body and one
narrow-body A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast airline seat, seating in a aircraft cabin, cabin less than in width. In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner ...
aircraft at the same time; the hangar also has an about area in its annexe building. CASL specialises in
Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fami ...
and
Boeing 737 Next Generation The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twinjet, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it ha ...
series heavy maintenance.


Airport based ground services

The Air Traffic Control Complex (ATCX), located at the centre of the airfield, is the nerve centre of the entire air traffic control system. Some 370 air traffic controllers and supporting staff work around the clock to provide air traffic control services for the Hong Kong Flight Information Region (FIR). At the
Air Traffic Control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
Tower, controllers provide 24-hour aerodrome control services to aircraft operating at the airport. A backup Air Traffic Control Centre/Tower constructed to the north of the ATCX is available for operational use in the event normal services provided in the ATCX are disrupted by unforeseen circumstances. Apart from serving as an operational backup, the facilities are also used for air traffic control training. The Airport Meteorological Office (AMO) of the
Hong Kong Observatory The Hong Kong Observatory is a weather forecast agency of the government of Hong Kong. The Observatory forecasts the weather and issues warnings on weather-related hazards. It also monitors and makes assessments on radiation levels in Hong ...
(HKO) provides weather services for the aviation community. The AMO issues alerts of low-level
windshear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...
and turbulence. Windshear detection is made using traditional
doppler weather radar A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly pu ...
s as well as the more effective
doppler LIDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to r ...
, of which Hong Kong International Airport was the first to introduce. Doppler LIDAR systems use lasers to detect windshear and wind direction even when atmospheric conditions are too dry for Doppler radar to work.


Fire and rescue services

Rescue and fire fighting services within the airport are covered by the Airport Fire Contingent of the
Hong Kong Fire Services Department The Hong Kong Fire Services Department is an emergency service responsible for firefighting and rescue on land and sea. It also provides an emergency ambulance service for the sick and the injured and gives fire protection advice to the pub ...
. The contingent has 282 members, operating three fire stations and two rescue berths for 24-hour emergency calls. It is equipped with 14 fire appliances which can respond to incidents within two minutes in optimum conditions of visibility and surface conditions, satisfying the relevant recommendation of the
International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
. Two high-capacity rescue boats, supported by eight-speed boats, form the core of sea rescue operations. One ambulance is assigned at each of the airport fire stations.


Ground transport

The airport is connected to inner Hong Kong by the Route 8 in Hong Kong
North Lantau Highway North Lantau Highway is an expressway forming part of Hong Kong's Route 8, linking Hong Kong International Airport and Lantau Island with the rest of the territory. The road has three lanes in each direction for its entire length with fu ...
on
Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...
. There is an
automated people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...
, operated by the Airport Authority and maintained by
MTR Corporation MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hong K ...
, connecting the East Hall to the Midfield Concourse via West Hall and Terminal 2. It was extended to SkyPier in late 2009 and extended to Midfield Concourse in 2015.


Bus

Citybus ( CityFlyer for Airport services), New Lantau Bus,
Long Win Bus Long Win Bus Company Limited (LWB; ) is a bus company operating franchised services in Hong Kong. It provides bus service between Hong Kong International Airport, North Lantau New Town and the New Territories. It is a subsidiary of Transport I ...
and
Discovery Bay Transit Services Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
(Permits required) operate more than 40 bus routes to the airport from various parts of Hong Kong, available at the Airport Ground Transportation Centre and Cheong Tat Road. The bus companies also offer more than 20 overnight "N" and "NA" Bus lines (a.k.a. Night services). Passengers can also take bus route number S1 to the Tung Chung MTR station. From there they can board the MTR Tung Chung line which follows the same route as the MTR Airport Express Line to
Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
with cheaper fare but longer journey time. There is a bus service to
Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is both the longest sea crossing and the longest Intercontinent ...
Control Point, with services between
Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...
, Hong Kong to
Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...
and
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
. Coach services are also available to major cities and towns in
Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
province. such as
Dongguan Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...
,
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
and
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
. And Also for HZMBus to Macau


Ferry

Direct ferry services are available from the airport to various destinations throughout the
Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...
(including
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
) via
Skypier Skypier Terminal () is a cross-border facility that includes a ferry pier and a coach bay integrated within Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is operated by Hong Kong International Airport Ferry T ...
. Passengers using these services are treated as transit passengers and are not considered to have entered Hong Kong for immigration purposes. For this reason, access to the ferry terminal is before immigration at the airport for arriving passengers. Check-in services are available at these piers. Four ports –
Shekou Shekou () is an area at the southern tip of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, Guangdong Province, China. It faces Yuen Long, Hong Kong across the Deep Bay, China, Shenzhen Bay. It has been designated as a free- ...
, Shenzhen Airport (Fuyong) and Humen (Dongguan) in mainland China, and
Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal The Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal (; ), also known as the ''Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal'', ''Macau Ferry Terminal'' or ''Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier'' in Chinese (), is a ferry terminal located at Porto Exterior, Sé, Macau, China. History The ...
in
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
– were initially served, extending to
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
and
Zhongshan Zhongshan ( zh, c=中山 ), alternately romanized via Cantonese as Chungshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is n ...
at the end of 2003. The
Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...
service began on 10 July 2007 while a Nansha service started on 14 July 2009.


Rail

The fastest service from the city to the airport is the
Airport Express The AirPort Express is a discontinued Wi-Fi base station product from Apple Inc., part of the AirPort product line. While more compact and in some ways simpler than another Apple Wi-Fi base station, the AirPort Extreme, the Express offers au ...
, which is a part of the Hong Kong rail network, and a dedicated
airport rail link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport between an airport and a nearby city. Direct links operate straight from the airport terminal to the city, while other links require an intermediate use of a people mover or ...
as part of the
MTR The Mass Transit Railway system, known locally by the initialism MTR, is a rapid transit system in Hong Kong and the territory's principal mode of Rail transport in Hong Kong, railway transportation. Operated by the MTR Corporation (MTRCL), ...
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
network. The line serves between Asia-World-Expo and Hong Kong (Central) Station makes intermediate stops at the following stations: # The Airport Express line originally terminated at
Airport station Airport station may refer to: General use * List of airport stations Particular stations * Aeroport (Moscow Metro), in Moscow, Russia, serving a former airport * Airport station (GCRTA), at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland, Ohi ...
, where trains open doors on both sides, allowing direct access to either Terminal 1 or Terminal 2. It was later extended to
AsiaWorld–Expo station AsiaWorld–Expo is the western terminus of the of the Hong Kong MTR. It serves the AsiaWorld–Expo in the northeast corner of Chek Lap Kok, the island on which the Hong Kong International Airport is located. The AsiaWorld–Expo is ...
on 20 December 2005 to facilitate the opening of the nearby
AsiaWorld–Expo The AsiaWorld–Expo is one of the two major convention and exhibition facilities in Hong Kong along with Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was opened on 21 December 2005 by Donald Tsang, the second chief executive of Hong Kong, a ...
venue. During events at the venue, some
Tung Chung line The Tung Chung line () is one of the ten lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, linking the town of Tung Chung with central Hong Kong. It was built in the 1990s as part of the Airport Railway project, part of the construction of the new ...
trains, which largely share the same tracks as the Airport Express, serve this station instead of
Tung Chung Tung Chung ( " eastern stream") is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of Tung C ...
, but these trains do not stop by the Airport station. #
Tsing Yi Station Tsing Yi is an interchange station of the MTR between the Tung Chung line and Airport Express on Tsing Yi Island in Hong Kong. The station is located between Sunny Bay station and Lai King station on the Tung Chung Line, and between Ai ...
(located in the northeastern part of Tsing Yi Island,
Kwai Tsing District Kwai Tsing is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It consists of two parts - Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island. Kwai Tsing is part of the New Territories. It had a population of 520,572 in 2016. The district has the third least educated resi ...
,
Tsing Yi Tsing Yi (), sometimes referred to as Tsing Yi Island, is an island in the New Territories of Hong Kong, to the northwest of Hong Kong Island and south of Tsuen Wan. With an area of , the island has been extended drastically by reclamation alo ...
.) # Kowloon Station (located in the
Yau Tsim Mong District Yau Tsim Mong District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong, located on the western part of Kowloon Peninsula. It is the core urban area of Kowloon. The district has the second highest population density of all districts, at . The 2016 B ...
on the western part of the
Kowloon Peninsula The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong, alongside Victoria Harbour and facing toward Hong Kong Island. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collect ...
, this station is the major transfer hub in the Kowloon Peninsula. Connections are also available for taxis, MTR Shuttle Buses and public/private buses at Elements. Before the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and currently suspended under further notice as of April 2023, in-town check-in services for major airlines were provided.) #
Hong Kong Station Hong Kong () is a station of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a terri ...
, the terminus, is located at the northern coast of
Central and Western District The Central and Western District (, ) located on northwestern part of Hong Kong Island is one of the districts of Hong Kong, 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It had a population of 243,266 in 2016. The district has the most educated ...
on
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
. It takes approximately 24 minutes to reach the
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
from
Hong Kong Station Hong Kong () is a station of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a terri ...
. Hong Kong Station also provides in-town check-in services for major airlines.


Taxi

The airport is served by three types of
taxis A taxis (; : taxes ) is the motility, movement of an organism in response to a Stimulus (physiology), stimulus such as light or the presence of food. Taxes are innate behavioural responses. A taxis differs from a tropism (turning response, often ...
, distinguished by colours: * Urban Taxis connect the Airport with
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
,
Kowloon Peninsula The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong, alongside Victoria Harbour and facing toward Hong Kong Island. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collect ...
and parts of the new towns of Metropolitan Hong Kong such as
Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a New towns of Hong Kong, town built on a bay in the New Territories West (constituency), western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite Tsing Yi, Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market ...
,
Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The new ...
and
Tseung Kwan O Tseung Kwan O New Town, commonly known as Tseung Kwan O ( zh, t=將軍澳新市鎮, j=Zoeng1 gwan1 ou3 san1 si5 zan3), is one of the nine New towns of Hong Kong, new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on Land reclamation in Hong Kong, reclaimed ...
.(urban taxis can go anywhere in Hong Kong except southern parts of
Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...
). * New Territories Taxis connect the airport with the
New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...
, except those parts in the Metropolitan Hong Kong Area such as
Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a New towns of Hong Kong, town built on a bay in the New Territories West (constituency), western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite Tsing Yi, Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market ...
,
Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The new ...
and
Tseung Kwan O Tseung Kwan O New Town, commonly known as Tseung Kwan O ( zh, t=將軍澳新市鎮, j=Zoeng1 gwan1 ou3 san1 si5 zan3), is one of the nine New towns of Hong Kong, new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on Land reclamation in Hong Kong, reclaimed ...
(except parts of
Hang Hau Hang Hau () is a residential area in Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is located at the eastern edge of the Tseung Kwan O New Town. Most of the land was reclaimed from Hang Hau Village and Shui Bin Village (). His ...
) were served by urban taxis. * Lantau Taxis connect the airport with the rest of
Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...
.


Accidents and incidents

The following are aviation accidents or incidents at the current HKIA (see accidents and incidents at the former HKIA at Kai Tak): *On 22 August 1999,
China Airlines Flight 642 China Airlines Flight 642 was a flight that crashed at Hong Kong (Chek Lap Kok) International Airport on 22 August 1999. It was operating from Bangkok (Bangkok International Airport, now renamed as Don Mueang International Airport) to Taipei w ...
(an MD-11 operated by subsidiary
Mandarin Airlines Mandarin Airlines () is a Taiwanese regional airline based in Taipei, Taiwan whose parent company is China Airlines. The airline operates domestic and regional international flights, while its parent company focuses on international operations. ...
), which was landing at Hong Kong International Airport during Typhoon Sam after a flight from
Bangkok International Airport Bangkok International Airport may refer to one of the following airports serving Bangkok, Thailand: * Suvarnabhumi Airport, the city's main international airport, referred to as New Bangkok International Airport during its construction * Don Mueang ...
(now
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
Don Mueang International Airport Don Mueang International Airport — known as Bangkok International Airport before 2006 — is one of two international airports serving Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, the other being Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). The airport is considered ...
), rolled over and caught fire, coming to rest upside down beside the runway. Of the 315 passengers and crew on board, 3 people were killed and 219 were injured. * On 13 April 2010, Cathay Pacific Flight 780, an Airbus A330-342 from
Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...
Juanda International Airport Juanda International Airport is an international airport, international joint-use airport located in Sedati, Sedati District, Sidoarjo Regency, Sidoarjo, Indonesia. It is now the List of the busiest airports in Indonesia, third busiest airport ...
to Hong Kong landed safely after both engines failed due to contaminated fuel. All 322 survived, and 63 of them were injured. Its two pilots received the
Polaris Award The Polaris Award is the highest decoration associated with civil aviation, awarded by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) to airline crews in recognition for acts of exceptional airmanship Airmanship is ski ...
from the
International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) is an international not-for-profit organization of national aircraft pilot trade unions, known as pilot associations. IFALPA was founded in April 1948 and is based in Montreal ...
for their heroism and airmanship. * On 8 September 2016, an airport delivery van crashed into the left engine of
Cathay Dragon Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (), originally known as Dragonair until 2016 and finally Cathay Dragon () until 2020, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong Inter ...
Flight 691 from Hong Kong to
Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
, Malaysia, with 295 passengers and crew on board as the aircraft was taxiing to the runway. There were no fatalities. The exact aircraft involved suffered another accident six years earlier, which occurred at the same airport. *On 17 June 2024,
Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc. is a major American cargo airline, charter airline, passenger charter airline, and Aircraft lease, aircraft lessor based in White Plains, New York. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings. Atlas Air is t ...
Flight 4304 suffered a tire burst while performing an
emergency landing An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...
. The tire fragments caused a 4-hour delay that delayed 186 of the 315 flights scheduled during this period. The Airport Authority reported that none of the five crew members on board the cargo plane suffered injuries. The break down of the hydraulic system caused clean-up to take longer than expected.


Accolades


See also

* Airport Freight Forwarding Centre * Airport Security Unit *
Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is both the longest sea crossing and the longest Intercontinent ...
* List of airports with triple takeoff/landing capability *
List of busiest airports by cargo traffic The world's thirty busiest airports by cargo traffic for various periods (data provided by Airports Council International). Numbers listed refer to loaded and unloaded freight in metric tonnes, including transit freight. 2024 final statistics A ...
*
List of busiest airports by passenger traffic The world's busiest airports by passenger traffic are measured by total passengers provided by the Airports Council International, defined as passengers enplaned plus passengers deplaned plus direct-transit passengers. The world's busiest airp ...
*
List of places in Hong Kong The following is a list of areashttp://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/MusicOffice/download/imts18.pdf of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Island * Central and Western District ** Central District *** Admiralty ** Mid-Levels ***Soho ** Sai Wan *** K ...
*'' Megaprojects and Risk'' *
Shek Kong Airfield The Shek Kong Airfield ( zh, 石崗機場, ICAO: VHSK, formerly RAF Sek Kong) is the sole airbase of the People's Liberation Army Air Force in the Hong Kong SAR, falling under the Southern Theater Command Air Force, and is located in Shek K ...
– a military airbase in Hong Kong *
Transport in Hong Kong Hong Kong has a Developed country, highly developed transport network, encompassing both public transport, public and private transport. Based on Hong Kong Government's Travel Characteristics Survey, over 90% of daily journeys are on public t ...
*
Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link The Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link (, abbreviated as TM–CLKL) is a road project in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It comprises two elements: the "Northern Connection" and the "Southern Connection". The Northern Connection comprises an undersea t ...


References


External links

* * * * * * {{Authority control Chek Lap Kok Airports in Hong Kong Airports established in 1998 Artificial island airports Foster and Partners buildings Lattice shell structures Articles containing video clips Neo-futurist architecture 1998 establishments in Hong Kong Artificial islands of Hong Kong Land reclamation in Hong Kong