Hong Kong airport opening date may be decided this month
 In this story:
 Rail authority awaits word on airport completion
 New airport to be open 24 hours
 Rain slows construction
 September 4, 1997 - 11:25 a.m. EDT (1525 GMT)
 HONG KONG (Reuter) -- Hong Kong's government, airport and rail
 authorities will meet this month to seek common ground on an
 opening date for the territory's new airport, an aviation
 official said.
 There has been speculation in Hong Kong that the HK$70.7 billion
 (US$9.1 billion) airport might not open on schedule next April
 because the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) does not
 expect completion of its vital rail link until late June.
 Concerns have also been raised that the airport's cargo terminal
 will not be ready, especially after a period of wet weather which
 has hampered construction.
 "There will be a discussion between the government, the Airport
 Authority and the MTRC on progress," said Clinton Leeks, director
 of corporate development at the Airport Authority (AA).
        Rail authority awaits word on airport completion
 Leeks said he was confident the Authority would fulfill its own
 targets and have the airport, one of the world's largest civil
 engineering projects, operational in time.
 "We're going to be ready to open in April, we're in very good
 shape," Leeks told reporters during a demonstration of the runway
 lighting at the site late on Wednesday.
 "The MTRC has said it will be ready in June. That's rather a big
 gap, April to June. We hope they can be ready earlier," Leeks said,
 adding that the MTRC had the ability to do so.
 "The MTRC has a record of completing its lines ahead of schedule,"
 Leeks said.
 As both the Authority and the MTRC were government-owned, it
 should be possible to sort out any gap in opening dates, he said.
 MTRC chairman Jack So recently made clear in staff briefings the
 corporation was awaiting more certainty on the opening date of the
 airport itself before committing the MTRC to an acceleration of its
 construction plan.
 The rail link is vital for ferrying passengers to and from the Chek
 Lap Kok airport, situated 25 kilometers (16 miles) west of central
 Hong Kong.
 Leeks said the government had contingency plans to move passengers
 to and from the airport if the rail link was not ready on time.
               New airport to be open 24 hours
 The government said this month the airport program, which includes
 the airport and associated infrastructure projects such as roads and
 railways, was 85 percent complete. The forecast cost of the program
 so far is HK $161.3 billion (US $20.8 billion).
 That includes HK $70.7 billion (US $9.1 billion) for the airport,
 $45.2 billion (US $5.8 billion) for government works, $34 billion
 (US $4.4 billion) for the airport railway and $6.5 billion (US $839
 million) for a cross-harbor tunnel. A second runway is to be added
 at a cost of $4.9 billion (US $580 million).
 The airport will be open 24 hours, unlike Hong Kong's present Kai
 Tak airport, which shuts at night.
 It will have a passenger processing capacity of 35 million per year,
 and an air cargo capacity of three million tons.
                   Rain slows construction
 Chek Lap Kok is a key to air transport growth in the region, with
 many airlines planning substantial expansion and additional routes
 in the area once the new facility is up and running.
 Earlier this week, reports suggested Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals
 (HACTL) might be unable to open its super-terminal at Chek Lap Kok
 in April, following this summer's heavy downpours.
 Part of the roof has been built, but recent rain had stalled its
 completion, which in turn had delayed a start on interior work at
 the facility.
 The Authority is pressing HACTL to have at least part of the termi-
 nal open for use by next April.
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