Sheree Cheung Mei-yee (first left), deputy general manager of the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre, and Chapman Fong (first right), deputy director of airport operations at the Airport Authority, pose with other officials for a group photo at the launch of Wing-to-Wing Transfer Service on March 19, 2024. (ATLAS SHAO / CHINA DAILY)

The Hong Kong International Airport is piloting a seamless transfer service, enabling passengers who arrive in the city on commercial flights to board their connecting private jets within 30 to 50 minutes — much quicker than the time such a transfer would traditionally take, the city’s airport regulator revealed.

Under the new Wing-to-Wing Transfer Service mode, transfer passengers will not need to go through Hong Kong’s immigration procedures or take their luggage to a counter after their arrival at HKIA, the Airport Authority Hong Kong said at a media conference on Tuesday.

The authority explained that the traditional transfer arrangement requires passengers to collect their baggage and go through immigration and customs clearance before they can enter the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre (HKBAC) — a facility that caters to passengers using private jets in HKIA— and wait for their connecting flights.

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Now, passengers who have applied to use the new service will be accompanied by staff members to the HKBAC directly, the authority said. 

The HKIA processed over 7,000 private jet trips in 2023, as the airport is a hub for business planes, said Chapman Fong of the Airport Authority

Although they do not need to collect their baggage, passengers still need to undergo security screening, which is performed strictly in line with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the authority added.

Passengers will also need to pay additional fees to use the Wing-to-Wing Transfer Service, charges for which have not yet been released. The amount for tax and the airport construction fee that passengers are required to pay when buying their tickets are not affected by the service, the authority said.

After an airline company and a private jet company have signed contracts with HKBAC, their passengers can use the time-saving transfer service, according to the authority.

Sheree Cheung Mei-yee, deputy general manager of HKBAC, said that the simplified arrangement enables passengers to complete their transits in about 30 to 50 minutes; in comparison, the traditional mode usually takes 1.5 hours.

Initiated on Sunday, the pilot program has so far benefited three passengers, all of whom came from New York and were traveling onward to Beijing on private jets.

Chapman Fong, deputy director of airport operations for the Airport Authority, said the three passengers had described the new service as smooth and satisfactory.

Fong said that the HKIA processed over 7,000 private jet trips in 2023, as the airport is a hub for business planes. It is believed that the use of private jets will further increase in the future, and the new transfer mode will attract more travelers to transfer at HKIA, which will increase the demand for other flights, Fong said.

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As HKIA's three-runway system will be completed this year, HKBAC will simultaneously increase its overall capacity, Cheung said, adding that she hopes the Wing-to-Wing Transfer Service can further strengthen Hong Kong's position as an aviation hub.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com