Hong Kong International
Three-runway international hub on a reclaimed island, anchoring the Pearl River Delta. We will be listening once receiver coverage comes online — the published geometry below is what we will be observing.
Strategic role
Hong Kong International opened in 1998 on Chek Lap Kok, an artificial island built off Lantau, replacing the legendary Kai Tak field in Kowloon. The aerodrome operates three parallel runways, 07L/25R, 07C/25C, and 07R/25L, with the third runway commissioned in late 2024. HKIA is one of the world's busiest cargo airports and the principal hub of Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Express; it sits inside the Hong Kong FIR under a 1500–2300 UTC noise abatement programme. Operationally, HKIA is the natural counterpart to RCTP for Asia-Pacific weather diversions — when one closes the other absorbs the load, and the radio chatter on both fields tracks the same convective system. Coverage is planned; the AIP geometry, frequency assignments, and procedure inventory below were sourced from the same publications the operator uses, so the surface model is ready ahead of receiver deployment.
Regional context
APAC hubs within 1,500 km — filled pins are live, hollow rings are reachable but not yet active.
Movement area diagram
Reading the field, west to east
The brand and the open delta
The west end of Chek Lap Kok holds Cathay City — Cathay Pacific's mini-headquarters opened with the airport in 1998: three ten-storey office towers, the 500-room Headland staff hotel, and a full-motion simulator centre on four hectares of reclaimed land. Westerly arrivals (the minority pattern, around 30 percent) cross open water from the Pearl River delta before being threaded into Hong Kong's TMA alongside Macau, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. The published clearance fix LIMES sits west of the field, used in everyday phraseology: cleared from LIMES via TUTBA or STELA, ILS approach.
Foster, then 3RS
Terminal 1 (1998, Foster + Partners) and the Midfield Concourse (2015) sit between the original parallel runways. The Three Runway System commissioned on 28 November 2024 reorders the layout: 07L/25R is the new northernmost runway, on 650 hectares of new reclamation; 07C/25C is the relevelled original north runway; 07R/25L is the original south runway, now prioritised for cargo. Cathay Pacific Group anchors the field — Cathay Pacific, HK Express (wholly owned since 2019), Air Hong Kong — alongside Hong Kong Airlines and the post-2022 entrant Greater Bay Airlines.
The 70-percent end and the wind shear
Easterly flow runs roughly 70 percent of the year, so the 07 end is where most arrivals touch down. Inbound aircraft cross south of Lantau over open water — and Lantau Peak rises to 934 metres a single nautical mile from the runway. Around 70 percent of pilot wind shear reports here are terrain-induced. The southeast corner holds the cargo precinct: HACTL SuperTerminal 1 (Foster, 1998), Cathay Cargo Terminal, and DHL's Central Asia hub — one of three principal global hubs alongside Leipzig and Cincinnati, carrying roughly twenty percent of DHL's worldwide volume.
Runways and landing systems
| Designator | Dimensions | Surface | TORA | TODA | ASDA | LDA | ILS / Localizer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07C | 3,800 × 60 m | ASPH | 3,800 | 3,978 | 3,800 | 3,629 | — |
| 25C | 3,800 × 60 m | ASPH | 3,800 | 3,978 | 3,800 | 3,629 | — |
| 07L | 3,800 × 60 m | ASPH | 3,800 | 3,860 | 3,800 | 3,626 | — |
| 25R | 3,800 × 60 m | ASPH | 3,800 | 3,860 | 3,800 | 3,626 | — |
| 07R | 3,800 × 60 m | ASPH | 3,800 | 4,100 | 3,800 | 3,640 | — |
| 25L | 3,800 × 60 m | ASPH | 3,800 | 4,100 | 3,800 | 3,800 | — |
ATS communications
27 frequencies
| Service | Callsign | MHz | Hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower | Hong Kong Tower | 118.200 | H24 | |
| Tower | Hong Kong Tower | 118.400 | H24 | |
| Tower | Hong Kong Tower | 118.700 | H24 | |
| Tower | Hong Kong Tower | 124.650 | H24 | H24 Secondary |
| Ground | Hong Kong Ground | 121.600 | H24 | |
| Ground | Hong Kong Ground | 121.875 | H24 | |
| Ground | Hong Kong Ground | 121.925 | H24 | H24 Secondary |
| Ground | Hong Kong Ground | 122.125 | H24 | |
| Ground | Hong Kong Ground | 122.550 | H24 | |
| Ground | Hong Kong Ground | 122.600 | H24 | |
| Approach | Hong Kong Approach | 119.100 | H24 | H24 Primary |
| Approach | Hong Kong Approach | 119.350 | H24 | H24 Secondary |
| Approach | Hong Kong Zone | 120.600 | H24 | |
| Approach | Hong Kong Zone | 122.075 | H24 | H24 Secondary |
| Approach | Hong Kong Director | 119.500 | H24 | H24 Primary |
| Approach | Hong Kong Director | 123.225 | As | As advised Secondary |
| Departure | Hong Kong Departure | 122.000 | H24 | |
| Departure | Hong Kong Departure | 122.650 | As | As advised Secondary |
| Departure | Hong Kong Departure | 123.800 | H24 | H24 Primary |
| Departure | Hong Kong Departure | 124.050 | As | As advised Secondary |
| Delivery | Hong Kong Delivery | 121.925 | H24 | H24 Secondary |
| Delivery | Hong Kong Delivery | 122.150 | H24 | H24 2-way PDC via data-link |
| ATIS | Hong Kong International Airport Arrival Info | 128.200 | H24 | H24 D-ATIS VHHHA |
| ATIS | Hong Kong International Airport Departure Info | 127.050 | H24 | H24 D-ATIS VHHHD |
| FIS | Hong Kong Information | 121.000 | 01:00-SS | |
| FIS | Hong Kong Information | 122.075 | 01:00-SS | 01:00-SS Secondary |
| Emergency | Emergency | 121.500 | H24 |
Procedures by runway end
Departures fan out from the threshold marked at the top of each column; arrivals converge into it. Names follow the current AIRAC cycle.
Stand and apron structure
Per-stand records (coordinates, max aircraft, surface strength) are operator-console only; the structure summary is what we publish.
Coverage and reception
Coverage planned. Geometry sourced from OpenStreetMap so the surface model is ready ahead of receiver deployment. Channel list and live transcript stream will be announced when capture starts.
Receiver coverage is planned. The geometry below is the surface model we will be observing once capture comes online.