HKIA extends its reach in Pearl River Delta

HONG KONG – Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) continues to improve its links to the Pearl River Delta (PRD) following the launch of a ferry service between the airport and Zhuhai.

Sailing between HKIA’s SkyPier and the port of Jiuzhou, the new service increases the number of PRD destinations served by SkyPier to six.

Initially, two roundtrip sailings carrying up to 1,300 passengers will depart Jiuzhou at 0930 and 1530 and leave HKIA at 1115 and 1700 each day.

The frequency of the 50-minute service is scheduled to grow to three roundtrip sailings per day by August and four per day by January 2008.

Airport Authority Hong Kong CEO Stanley Hui said, “The latest addition to our SkyPier service not only strengthens HKIA’s role as a multi-modal aviation hub and the transport link between HKIA and the PRD, but also helps expand HKIA’s catchment area to the 52 million population of the Greater PRD region.”

Over 70 ferry services operate each day between HKIA’s SkyPier and Macau, Zhongshan, Humen, and Shekou and Fuyong ports in Shenzhen.

HKIA, which introduced the world’s first upstream check-in service, between HKIA and Shekou in 2005, has extended the service to Macau.

Passengers leaving from Macau can now obtain a boarding pass and check their baggage for flights departing from HKIA.
A permanent and larger SkyPier is being built and is scheduled to open in early 2009