Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, after attending the Ceremony for the Fulfilment of the 2010-2015 Carbon Reduction Pledge and Announcement of a New 5-Year Target at the Hong Kong International Airport today (November 3):

Reporter: Professor Cheung, is it likely that more flights will be cut next month during the Christmas holidays? Because, you know, the CAD is already late in implementing the system.

Secretary for Transport and Housing: The reason why the number of flights has to be reduced for a period of about one month from the end of October is to facilitate the full implementation of the new Air Traffic Management System. We do not intend to extend that period because once you extend the period into Christmas season, that will affect air traffic quite seriously. We know that Christmas time of course will be a peak season for civil aviation. At the moment, we are still working on the original plan of full implementation sometime within November, but the exact date has to be determined. We have to be fully certain that system readiness (and) staff readiness are not at stake. We are also engaging our independent overseas consultant to look at the incident that occurred last week, to look at various information regarding the operation of the system, the Phased Functional Implementation performance before we will say, "Okay, the system is fully ready, staff are fully ready. Let's try. Let's have the full implementation."

Reporter: Is NATS … happy with the system …

Secretary for Transport and Housing: Before what happened last week, actually NATS (National Air Traffic Services), our overseas consultant, has given a very positive assessment of the system and staff readiness of the new Air Traffic Management System. But, of course, given what happened last week, we are inviting the consultant to look at the situation again and with full attention to various details, so that we are fully comfortable that when we press the button, so to speak, we will be fully ready for its full implementation. Actually, if you notice what happened since the incident last week, the staff association chairman for the air (traffic) controllers, he has come out to share his confidence with the community. And, I am sure many of our air traffic controllers are getting ready and they are confident. Of course, we will listen more carefully to the staff feedback. The Civil Aviation Department is engaging staff very positively. We hope that, at the end of the day, we will get everything ready once we reach the stage of full implementation.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Thursday, November 3, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:15

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