New Role for Kai Tak Runway
Kai Tak is to become cruise ship hub.
Tuesday 31 October 2006
It seems a new role has been found for the old Kai Tak airport in the heart of Hong Kong. Keeping it's role as an arrival and departure point for travellers, albiet in a much more sedate way than it's old air hub role, cruise ships are to make Kai Tak their port of call. It has always been the intention of the Hong Kong government to develop cruise ship facilities on the old airport runway, which extends into Victoria Harbour on reclaimed land. However, these plans seem sure to go ahead now with the southern end of the runway being earmarked for cruise ship facilities and priority being given to those developments with the aim of first stage completion by 2011.
The growth of the cruise industry in the region has meant that great demand for state of the art berthing facilities for pleasure shipping. With the announcement about the Kai Tak development, Hong Kong aims to make itself a cruise hub. Of course, Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour has long been a destination for cruise ships with the berth facilities in Tsim Tsa Tsui but they simply cannot meet demand, with their capacity being ships with a displacement of no more than 50,000 tonnes.
For example, the Queen Mary 2 has to berth far from the centre of Hong Kong at the territory's container port, as she is far too big for Tsim Tsa Tsui. However, after the completion of the Kai Tak facilities, ships like her can easily be accommodated right in Victoria Harbour, where the new capacity will be ships of up to 100,000 tonnes.
After considering several other sites, the only site that could meet requirements was the Kai Tak site. There will also be plenty of room for hotels, shopping facilities and housing.
However, Hong Kong faces competition from other regional centres, such as Shanghai and Xiamen. There are also long established facilities in Singapore, Korea and Japan. That said, there are few, if any places in the World that can compare with the stunning views to be enjoyed in Victoria Harbour, with it's natural mountain peaks and the lights of the skyscrapers. It will also be hard to compete with Kai Tak's central city location, mild climate and fast transport infrastructure.
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