Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on Friday launched the SkyPier, a new cross-boundary ferry terminal, to further facilitate strong demand for cross-boundary transport between the airport and the Pearl River Delta region.

The SkyPier is an important link between the airport and the Pearl River Delta region, said Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, at the opening ceremony held at the pier on Friday.

He said an international aviation hub underpins Hong Kong's efforts to enhance our competitiveness through the development of the four traditional pillar industries, in particular tourism and trade and logistics.

The new SkyPier is part of HKIA's near-term growth projects to enhance service levels and meet future demand, and the pier efficiently conveys passengers traveling between the Pearl River Delta and the world via HKIA, said Marvin Cheung Kin-tung Marvin Cheung Kin-tung, Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong.

A temporary SkyPier opened in 2003 and served almost 10 million passengers.

The new 16,500-sqm permanent SkyPier is eight times the size of the temporary facility, and designed with a maximum capacity for 8 million annual passengers.

Currently, high-speed ferries make an average of 85 trips every day, shuttling around 5,000 passengers between HKIA and eight ports in the Pearl River Delta and Macao, including Zhongshan, Zhuhai Jiuzhou, Dongguan Humen, Guangzhou Nansha, Shenzhen Shekou and Shenzhen Fuyong as well as Macao's Taipa and Maritime Ferry Terminal.

Travelers using the SkyPier are not required to go through immigration and customs formalities at HKIA.

Passengers en route for overseas destinations via HKIA's SkyPier are also exempt from paying the Hong Kong Airport Departure Tax of 120 HK dollars.

The time for passengers to travel between the ferry pier and Terminal 1 is also shortened to about four minutes, half of the time previously required.

The 20,000 square meter North Satellite Concourse is also launched on Friday. Ten extra bridge-served parking stands for narrow-bodied aircraft are built to serve the rising number of narrow-bodied aircraft using the airport.

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