Asian airports may not cope with air traffic

Asian airports may not cope with air traffic

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): International aviation experts warned
yesterday that already congested airports in Asia may not be able
to cope with increasing air traffic, which is forecast to more
than triple by 2010.

"(The region) will need massive infrastructure improvements if
it is to cope with the nearly 400 million passengers expected by
2010," said John Meredith, executive director of the Air
Transport Action Group (ATAG).

ATAG is a working committee within the Geneva-based
International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Many Asian airports were already bursting at their seams last
year when about 122 million passengers passed through them,
Meredith told participants at the start of a two-day IATA
conference on Asian infrastructure here.

"By the end of 1995, nearly half of all international airports
in the region will be capacity constrained, unable to cope with
demand at major periods of the day," he added.

The Asia Pacific's share of world-wide scheduled passenger
traffic will have jumped from just 26.6 percent in 1985 to over
50 percent in 2010, according to IATA calculations.

And despite efforts to expand current facilities and to build
new airports, the long gestation period for these projects was
pushing Asia towards a chronic shortage in air transport
infrastructure.

"Substantial as the planned investment is compared with other
regions of the world, there is a grave danger that it will not be
sufficient," Meredith said.

IATA estimates that about US$200 billion will be needed to
finance airport facilities in the region up to 2010.

Major airport projects are already underway across Asia, with
plans for 20 new international airports in China alone.

Airport facilities are also being built or have been completed
in Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok, Japan's Kansai, Kuala Lumpur's
Sepang, Singapore's Changi and India's Bombay, Bangalore and New
Delhi.

Officials blamed high capital costs, partly caused by
spiraling land costs in places like Hong Kong, as well as
environmental concerns for the shortage in airport infrastructure
investment.

But experts have pointed out that economic spin-offs from the
airports are expected to be substantial.

Aside from rising passenger traffic, air cargo is expected to
almost triple by 2010 and the economic benefits of such growth
could reach $850 billion and create 15 million jobs by that year.

Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok alone should create 12,700 new off-
airport jobs when it opens and the figure is expected to grow to
37,600 jobs by 2010, according to IATA projections.

Environmental worries from those living near airports have
also stalled airport expansion programs, experts said.

Meredith urged Asian countries to set up regional frameworks
to coordinate infrastructure investment with more emphasis on new
technology and private financing.

"Going it alone is no longer feasible in a multinational
environment," he said.