Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is on track to have all three runways operational by the end of this year as planned.

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) announced that the flight check of the reconfigured Centre Runway at HKIA was successfully completed recently marking a key milestone of readiness for the three-runway operation.

The flight check, which commenced in August 2024, was conducted collaboratively by AAHK, the Civil Aviation Department and the Flight Inspection Center of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, with the aim of ensuring that related air navigation service equipment, flight procedures and airfield ground lighting system at the reconfigured Centre Runway fully comply with the standards of International Civil Aviation Organization.

Following the commissioning of the North Runway in November 2022, the Centre Runway has been temporarily closed for reconfiguration as part of the Three-runway System (3RS) development.

The reconfiguration works include relevelling of the runway pavement to tie in with connecting taxiways, constructing new runway entry and exit taxiways, building new wrap-around taxiways at both ends of the Centre Runway, and more.

"AAHK continues to target the commencement of operation with all three runways at HKIA before the end of this year as scheduled," it said in a statement.

The 3RS will provide capacity for HKIA to meet the long-term air traffic demand of 120 million passengers and 10 million tonnes of cargo forecast for 2035, further consolidating HKIA's position as the leading aviation hub in the region.