Airport planning delays are becoming common in Hong Kong and China due to financing and other difficulties.
The chaos caused by Chek Lap Kok's premature opening has led to the postponement of its second runway. Hong Kong's airport authority has pushed back opening the parallel runway by six months, until the middle of 1999, from fear of repeating last year's mistake of moving ahead too fast. The new runway is finalised but design changes during construction of the first runway mean that air traffic controllers cannot switch over to the new runway lights as quickly as needed to reverse traffic flow.
Work on a replacement airport has also been delayed in nearby Guangzhou. It took six months to gain Beijing's approval for the airport's feasibility plan. Now Asia's financial turmoil has forced officials to rejig financing for the project's ´20 billion ($2.4 billion) first phase. The final package looks likely to rely on equity of only 35%. The Civil Aviation Administration of China will own 51% of the shares; Guangzhou's municipal government will own the rest. The authorities have abandoned plans for foreign investment and scaled back foreign debt to $300 million, less than 20% of total debt.
Beijing Airport has also felt the effects of Asia's troubles. Japan extended loans of ´30 billion ($250 million) for an expansion before the yen weakened, leaving a bigger balance for the airport to finance. Beijing Airport is profitable, however, and about to list its shares overseas.
Source: Airline Business
