Global Industry Professionals Meet at Aviation Day 2023 in Hong Kong

(HONG KONG, 2 August 2023, 1830hrs) – Aviation Day 2023, a signature conference for the global aviation industry, kicked off today in Hong Kong. Co-hosted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), the two-day event held at AsiaWorld Expo was attended by more than 1,000 aviation industry professionals from around the world.

Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government; Jack So, Chairman of Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK); Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA; Fred Lam, Chief Executive Officer of AAHK; Wan Xiangdong, Chief Pilot of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC); Lam Sai-hung, Secretary for Transport and Logistics; Victor Liu, Director-General of Civil Aviation of Civil Aviation Department; and airline representatives attended the kick-off ceremony.

In his welcome address, Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of HKSAR Government said, “The future is bright for Hong Kong as an aviation hub, and this is manifested not just in the sunny economic outlook of the Greater Bay Area, but also a flurry of far-sighted infrastructural developments. The Government, together with the Airport Authority, are transforming our airport into an “Airport City”, under which the HKIA will be developed into a node of various economic activities with aviation as its core business, making our airport a new engine which will propel the growth of Hong Kong and the GBA as a whole. The Government is also striving to establish Hong Kong as an aircraft leasing and services hub by providing tax concessions so as to attract more aircraft leasing companies to come to Hong Kong; and supporting manpower training for the aviation industry as well as welcoming talents from abroad with expertise and experience in the industry to join us.”

Jack So, Chairman of AAHK, remarked, “It is my great pleasure to welcome industry participants from all over the world to this event. Like the rest of the world, Hong Kong airport has had three difficult years because of the pandemic. We kept our confidence not only in keeping the airport open, but also building for the future with our Three-runway System expansion project. With the expansion, HKIA’s capacity will be increased by 50%, ready to serve up to 120 million passengers and 10 million tonnes of cargo annually.”

Wan Xiangdong, Chief Pilot of CAAC, also gave the keynote speech of the conference.

Aviation Day 2023 features speeches and panel discussions by some of the industry’s top leaders, sharing insight on topics including new opportunities for air travel and air cargo in the Greater Bay Area, new technology trends in the aviation industry, and more. One of the highlights is a tour of HKIA during which the airport’s new facilities, services, technologies and latest developments will be introduced.