AsBAA, the Asian region’s non-for-profit representative trade body for business aviation today announced the outcome of the 7 th meeting held with Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (HKCAD) to tackle the on-going issues relating to noise profiling and slots for business jets at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). Several members of AsBAA’s leadership team were invited to attend the 7th Meeting on Business and General aviation Slot Management at HKIA, which was held on 3 Aug 2017. The meeting concluded that the Tail Specific Penalty Scheme will come into effect on a trial basis at 0000 local time on 1 September 2017. Online Coordination System (OCS) users were kindly reminded that during the first two months of implementation of the Tail Specific Penalty Scheme (September and October), OCS user accounts will be subject to penalty points - based on performance and system usage compliance in the months of July and August under the current scheme. In addition, users that have been terminated under the current scheme will not be granted access within three months from the day of termination, regardless of the penalty scheme in place. The transition timeline for the two schemes in 2017 is illustrated below:
| |
August |
September |
October |
November |
December |
| Penalty Scheme |
Current |
Tail Specific |
Tail Specific |
Tail Specific |
Tail Specific |
| Performance Report for… |
July
(Current) |
August
(Current) |
Sept.
(Tail) |
Oct.
(Tail) |
Nov.
(Tail) |
| Penalty imposed for the performance in… |
June
(Current) |
July
(Current) |
August
(Current) |
Sept.
(Tail) |
Oct.
(Tail) |
Phil Balmer, Board of Directors, AsBAA said, “AsBAA has been working closely with HKCAD, HKIA and the Transport and Housing Bureau for over a year to try and resolve the issues affecting our members at HKIA. We were encouraged to be invited to represent the voice of the industry at this meeting, and we will continue to press for fair and logical application of rules relating to noise profiling, night slots and correct use of the OCS”. The meeting also shed some light on the regulations and their application to Humanitarian Flights – including Medical Emergencies, Donor Flights, Search and Rescue, Air Ambulance flights and Hong Kong Government Flying Service flights. The meeting concluded that such flights are exempted from obtaining slot clearances and are therefore not subject to either the current penalty scheme or the Tail Specific Penalty Scheme. Details on types of operations exempted from obtaining slot clearances can be found in Annex 1 of the Schedule Coordination Guidelines for Hong Kong International Airport (Issue 13) [available at http://www.hkgslot.gov.hk/Useful_Info.html]. |
