HC Deb 20 January 1977 vol 924 cc306-7W
Mr. Parry

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the proposed new airport in Hong Kong.

Mr. Luard

No decision has yet been taken on whether a new airport should be built in Hong Kong. A study undertaken in 1974 and 1975 to determine the extent to which the present Kai Tak International Airport could cope with the projected growth in air traffic indicated that it could not be developed to meet expected demand much beyond the mid-1980s. Several sites, all located in the New Territories, were considered, but only one was identified, on technical grounds, as a possible location for a replacement airport. A civil engineering feasibility study has not yet been undertaken to determine whether an airport could be built on the suggested site.

Mr. Parry

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what is the latest estimate of the cost of building a second airport in Hong Kong.

Mr. Luard

Firm estimates of costs are not available, since a civil engineering feasibility study has not yet been undertaken. Estimates made in 1974 produced a figure of $HK4,000 millions, including the estimated cost of the immediate road access system.

Mr. Parry

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which sites for a second airport at Hong Kong have been examined that do not involve overflying Chinese airspace on approach.

Mr. Luard

None.

Mr. Parry

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what sites for a second airport in Hong Kong have been examined that do not lie in the New Territories.

Mr. Luard

No site outside the New Territories appeared suitable to the consultants who undertook the study in 1974 and 1975, to which I have referred in my reply to another of my hon. Friend's Questions. No such site was examined.

Mr. Parry

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to seek to amend the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 to enable Her Majesty's Government to guarantee loans raised to finance a second airport or similar large projects in Hong Kong.

Mr. Luard

Her Majesty's Government have no such plans.

Mr. Parry

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in the event of the construction of a second airport in Hong Kong, carriers presently holding landing rights at Kai Tak Airport would be entitled to land at the new airport without further negotiations; and what body would be responsible for any such negotiations.

Mr. Luard

It will not be necessary to renegotiate traffic rights for existing services into Hong Kong in the event of the construction of a second airport there. Her Majesty's Government are responsible for any negotiations on traffic rights in Hong Kong.