Getting Ready for the A380 Aircraft in Hong Kong International Airport

In December 2000, a decision was made by Airbus Industries to undertake the development of the world largest aircraft, the A380. Subsequently, the first A380 flight was successfully conducted in April 2005 in France. Six airlines have indicated their intention to use the A380 aircraft for operations at Hong Kong International Airport and plan to begin operations in late 2007 or early 2008. This paper describes the compatibility study carried out by the Hong Kong Airport Authority to identify the requirements to upgrade the airport facilities to ICAO Code 4F standard. These include the widening of a number of taxiways, the relocation of infringing obstacles, relocation of runway stop bars, the modification of jet blast fences, and the modification of aircraft loading bridges, fixed ground power and preconditioned air systems. The paper also describes the various design options that were considered for the upgrade and the difficulties encountered implementing the changes under an operating airport environment.