HKIA Y2K contingency exercises

(HONG KONG, 7 October 1999) -- The Airport Authority (AA) has staged a series of Y2K contingency drills at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

AA General Manager -- Terminal Operations Ng Ki-sing said that 31 flights from 14 airlines participated in the exercises from 10:00 pm yesterday until 10:00 am today. It involved the manual processing of departing passengers by airline check-in staff.

"This is the first time our Y2K exercises have involved real passengers and real flights," Mr Ng said. "Procedures went smoothly."

In a related exercise, an airport marshaller guided an arriving aircraft to its designated parking stand using standard signal bats. This is the back-up method to be employed in the event of a power failure affecting the Automatic Parking Aids.

To simulate a partial failure of the flight information display system the Airport Operation Control Centre (AOCC) manually fed the latest flight information into the various display devices located throughout the passenger terminal. This allowed flight information to be maintained without interruption.

The response of the standby power supply was also successfully tested.

The Airport Emergency Centre communication systems underwent contingency tests. The centre will be the Y2K Command and Control Centre on the evening of 31 December.

During the drill period this morning three flights were reported delays. These were due to technical and connection problems unrelated to the preparedness exercises.

"While we have completed Y2K compliance verification of all our 124 systems, there is still a risk of possible disruptions to airport operations. These contingency drills were a good opportunity for AA staff and other business partners, including airlines and ramp handlers, to familiarise themselves with the contingency measures," Mr Ng said. "Although we cannot anticipate exactly what will happen on the day of the new millennium, should problems occur these drills will help minimise disruptions."

Ref. PR-462