Govt wants better air traffic and passenger flow
Transport minister Lam Sai-hung said on Friday that the Airport Authority and the Civil Aviation Department need to improve how they manage air traffic and airport passenger flows.  His remarks came after some travellers expressed disappointment over how they were stuck at the airport for hours during a typhoon on Sunday, when a number nine storm signal was issued and the Airport Express was suspended.  "The Airport Authority and the Civil Aviation Department will improve this mechanism, when there's a typhoon coming, they would consider the overall situation and activate the mechanism, so as to adjust the number of flights," Lam told reporters.  "On the one hand, they'd maintain air traffic in an orderly manner, and on the other, they can handle the passenger flow inside the terminal more efficiently." The secretary added that the government has asked the MTR Corporation to carefully study the arrangement of suspending trains on above-ground lines when a storm signal number nine or ten are in effect. While some people have proposed building covers over such lines, the minister said this may not be feasible. He noted that it is questionable whether the foundations of overhead bridges can take on extra structures. The Chief Executive Officer of the Airport Authority, Fred Lam, said his staff had provided passengers with more room to rest, and water on Sunday. He said the authority will improve its taxi-queuing system by issuing tickets to passengers, so that they can go somewhere else in the airport to rest before their taxi arrives. And the authority will look into ways to provide more places for passengers to rest when they are stuck at the airport because of severe weather conditions, Lam added.