Chief Executive Carrie Lam

Airports connect people. They create jobs, enable trade, spur economic growth and stimulate cultural exchanges. No less important, they bring global leaders, such as yourselves, to us. Airports bring people together. They reduce the world to the size of a global village.

Take Hong Kong International Airport. Now 21 years old, the world-class facility at Chek Lap Kok has helped shape Hong Kong into the global financial services and trade centre it is today. Last year, the airport achieved a record-breaking performance by handling more than 74 million passengers and over five million tonnes of cargo and air mail. More than 120 airlines operate some 1,100 flights a day, connecting Hong Kong to more than 220 destinations around the world. Nowadays, one of my headaches while meeting senior officials overseas or on the Mainland is to meet their aspirations for more direct flights with Hong Kong, which normally I could not entertain because of the capacity constraints at Hong Kong International Airport.

It is therefore no surprise that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's Outline Development Plan, promulgated last month, confirms Hong Kong's role in several key areas, from finance to trade and transport, including serving as the Greater Bay Area's international aviation hub. A cluster of nine prosperous cities in Guangdong Province, together with Hong Kong and Macau, the two Special Administrative Regions, the Greater Bay Area boasts a population of some 70 million and a combined GDP of US$1.6 trillion. It is now an important national strategy to develop the Greater Bay Area into a vibrant world-class city cluster, and a quality living circle for living, working and travelling.

Hong Kong is committed to taking full advantage of the Greater Bay Area, and our place as its aviation hub. Our third runway is now under construction, with commissioning targeted at 2022. By 2030, we expect our airport to handle 100 million passengers and nine million tonnes of cargo annually.

In short, Hong Kong International Airport will play a critical role in carrying Hong Kong to the future, connecting us with the Greater Bay Area and the Mainland, with Asia and the world beyond. It will help us all excel.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam gave these remarks at the Airports Council International Joint World Governing & Regional Board Dinner on March 31.