Hong Kong International Airport

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

-That first shot is Beautiful!!

[hkskyline]

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever spotted a Virgin plane at HKIA.

[hkskyline]

[tarapoto]

I absolutely love this airport, regardless of it's ridiculous size, it's pretty much impossible to get lost and super easy to find your way around, everything is well labeled in English. The only thing is it takes FOREVER to get from one concourse to the next even with the fast moving sidewalks, because it's so damn huge

[tayser]

random HKG news:

Qantas to Increase Services to Hong Kong

Latest News
Melbourne, 20 December 2007

Qantas announced today it would increase services between Melbourne and Hong Kong by three flights per week from 1 April 2008.*

The Executive General Manager of Qantas, Mr John Borghetti, said that with the additional services, the airline would operate 10 services per week on the Melbourne-Hong Kong route.

He said the new services would be operated by two-class, 297-seat A330-300 aircraft, offering the award-winning Skybed sleeper seat in Business and audio and video on demand in Business and Economy.

"The new flights will complement our current daily three class B747-400 services on the route, and signal a move towards a double daily Melbourne-Hong Kong service in the future," Mr Borghetti said.

"Hong Kong is an important market for Qantas - both in its own right and as a gateway to China.

"These new Melbourne services will take to 31 the number of flights Qantas operates to Hong Kong, including double daily flights from Sydney, 10 per week from Melbourne, four from Brisbane and three from Perth."

The new Melbourne-Hong Kong will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, departing Melbourne at 11:55am, and returning from Hong Kong at 9:05pm.

Mr Borghetti said Qantas had also recently announced two services per week between Melbourne and Shanghai, commencing 11 March 2008.

_____

when Qantas eventually go to 2x daily MEL-HKG that'll be 5x daily oneworld carrier services (Cathay are 3x daily now already). That'll bring Honkers up to the same amount of flights/connections through Singapore on the 'roo routes. Not bad Honkers.

[FrancoRey]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever spotted a Virgin plane at HKIA.

I can only think of a handful fo airlines that I didn't see in all those plane shots. British Airways, Delta, American. Any other big ones? Air France maybe...unbelieveable how much exposure there is at financial international cities such as Hong Kong.

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by FrancoRey

I can only think of a handful fo airlines that I didn't see in all those plane shots. British Airways, Delta, American. Any other big ones? Air France maybe...unbelieveable how much exposure there is at financial international cities such as Hong Kong.

Delta and American don't fly their planes to HK. AA codeshares with oneworld partner Cathay Pacific. The only US carriers who fly their own planes here are Continental, United, and Northwest.

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

Nice pics! I love that ANA Panda plane!!!

[hkskyline]

[The Man Who Laughs]

Fascinating. Why can't America have the airports of these foreign countries? This one looks well designed and has just enough English.

Hong Kong crime dramas are the only reason why I have an interest in your territory to begin with. I hope to visit there within the next few years. Australia, too.

[MolsonExport]

Quite a change from Kai tek. Beautiful.

[hkskyline]

[youbetcha1018]

I am just so happy that I landed at HKG's international airport twice. I love that airport, it's so huge!

[Jaroslaw]

Some sad news about HKIA... Terminal 1 is in the midst of an "upgrade" and rearrangement... for example, departing passangers will now go through security first, then passport control.

The sad part is that the terminal is getting stuffed with more floor area, which is destroying some of the open architecture. I first noticed this in the baggage claim area, where about 25% of the width is getting chopped: they are getting rid of the high ceiling, putting in a mezzanine floor, destroying the simplicity of the architecture and making you feel more claustrophobic. And in the departures area, the food court area on level 6 (5 being departures) is also getting expanded, which means less open space on the lower level.

Typical Hong Kong type penny-pinching. I have a couple of recent photos, but no upload capability right now. Here's the HKIA press release, some very small pics at the link, no mention of a net reduction of open space inside the terminal:

http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/m...es/pr_931.html

[Jaroslaw]

Here are photos of the partial destruction of the architecture of the luggage pickup hall. On the right, here is the diminishing of the hall:



Turning to the other side, in-fill in progress:

[hkskyline]

Aborted landing ...

[hkskyline]

[hkskyline]

[plinko]

Seriously my favorite airport (KL was pretty damn nice as well).

A architecture schoolmate of mine did his internship in '97 with the HK Airport Authority, working on Foster's terminal building and the ground transportation building. I went to visit him in July of '98 and flew into Kai Tak on one of its last days of operations (got to take part in an aborted landing there, always fun) and flew back home to the States just after HKIA opened (luggage arrived 5 days later). Anyway, while I was there, I got to see the on-site drafting office they had just east of the Transportation Building. The drawings of that terminal were incredible. They had huge printouts of Foster's detail sketches all over the walls.

[The Chemist]

I just watched the Extreme Engineering program on the construction of this airport recently. It's an amazing piece of work, and I really need to get down to HK sometime to see it.