Speech by STL at Super Terminal Expo 2025
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, at the Super Terminal Expo 2025 today (November 4):
Fred (Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Mr Fred Lam), Ms Zhang (Director General of Department of Development Planning of Civil Aviation Administration of China, Ms Zhang Qing), Margaret (President and Chief Executive Officer of Informa Markets in Asia, Ms Margaret Ma Connolly), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. A very warm welcome to Super Terminal Expo2025.
It is my great pleasure to see so many distinguished guests, leaders and professionals from across the global aviation sector, gathering here to explore a very important theme, "Shaping Asia's Future Transportation Hubs". Located right in the middle of Asia and as the premier gateway for passengers and goods of the Chinese Mainland, the world's second-largest economy, Hong Kong is truly the perfect backdrop for this discussion today. With the commissioning of the Three-Runway System (3RS) of the Hong Kong International Airport last year, we are not just expanding our capacity; we are strengthening a vital bridge for global connectivity, entering an era of unprecedented growth and global partnership.
An extensive aviation network is the key to our success as the major transportation hub in the region. We have been joining hands with the Airport Authority Hong Kong to accelerate the expansion of the aviation network through strategically attracting both local and non-local airlines to add new destinations and increase flight frequencies. We are also taking the initiative to visit aviation partners to discuss the establishment of new air services agreements, in order to expand the traffic rights and to relax the restrictions under those agreements. You can really see how determined we are when you look at what we have accomplished. Over the past two years, we have expanded bilateral air services agreements with more than 10 economies. Just the past two months, we have managed to strike deals with Chile and Poland to work on new air services agreements that will boost our connections to South America and Europe.
Meanwhile, we have also been strengthening our intermodal connectivity with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), which is home to 86 million people. On the passenger side, the Airport Authority is committed to expanding the city terminal network in the Chinese Mainland and working with Zhuhai Airport to improve the "Fly-Via-Zhuhai-Hong Kong" service. To draw more transit passengers from the GBA, the Government has just broadened the scope of Air Passenger Departure Tax exemptions to cover more passengers who travel to Hong Kong for transit by sea or land. On top of that, with our exciting SKYTOPIA development plan, which aims to transform the airport into a world-leading landmark for commerce, tourism, arts and leisure, we are set to attract even more passengers to the Airport Island. This will further solidify our position as the premier transit hub in the region.
Hong Kong is one of the few airports where both passenger and cargo flows are among the top in the world; our airport's competitive advantage is especially prominent as we won the title of the world's busiest cargo airport 14 times in the last 15 years. That is such an amazing achievement, thanks to the efforts of all colleagues working in the airport community. To strengthen its position, the Airport Authority is not only looking to take advantage of the 3RS to boost cargo throughput, but is also developing the sea-air transshipment mode and pressing ahead with the construction of a permanent logistics park in Dongguan. With the Phase 1 development of the logistics park be completed in stages starting from next month, this transshipment mode will help boost the use of Hong Kong air cargo services for transporting goods to and from the Chinese Mainland, addressing the rising demand for international cargo transport services in the GBA.
Our vision for creating a world-class transportation hub goes beyond traditional ways of travel. We are diving into a new era and new frontier of mobility - the low-altitude economy (LAE), which is one of the key discussion topics in this Expo. On this front, the Government is pushing ahead to build a competitive LAE ecosystem and propelling Hong Kong as an Asia-Pacific hub for innovative low-altitude economy development. Following the first batch of Regulatory Sandbox pilot projects we announced in March, we are now moving fast to the next stage. We are looking into the possibility of putting some of the more developed application scenarios into real-life applications. We are also facilitating various enterprises and companies to commercialise the application of the more advanced and more mature LAE applications. We will launch an advanced "Regulatory Sandbox X" to tackle more complex scenarios like cross-boundary routes and passenger-carrying low-altitude aircraft. The Working Group on Developing Low-altitude Economy, set up under the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, will also formulate the Action Plan on Developing Low-Altitude Economy. We eagerly await your valuable insights at the upcoming LAE forum to help guide our efforts which focus on three fronts. Firstly, we hope to facilitate the development of the more mature and more advanced technology of LAE in Hong Kong. Secondly, we are working on cross-boundary applications including logistics, to facilitate enterprises to trial different technologies and put them into commercial use. Last but not least, the setting of LAE standards. Hong Kong has been the pioneer of standard setting in civil aviation, and we also hope to do the same in LAE.
Ladies and gentlemen, the stage is now set, and we will collectively shape the future of Asia's intermodal hubs through groundbreaking dialogue and innovation over these three days. Please don’t hesitate to join us by taking part in the panel discussions and forums, and to really connect with each other so as to break through and to innovate. Let me thank Informa Markets for bringing this exceptional event to Hong Kong once again, and a big thank you to the Airport Authority for their incredible work in helping Hong Kong remain a leading transportation hub. I wish you all a very rewarding Expo, and a wonderful stay in Hong Kong. Thank you very much.
