New online system leaves users fuming as they find they cannot book slots or sometimes leave on time
DANNY.LEE@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Thursday, 31 March, 2016, 12:09am
Private jet passengers are far from happy over the new booking system in Hong Kong. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
A new online booking system for private jets designed to make more efficient use of the airport’s two runways has become a stumbling block as scarce take-off and landing slots go unused.
An executive in the business jet industry told thePost “a lot of” slots have been wasted since March 15, when the aviation regulator digitised the process and it became less flexible.
In one instance, the changes meant business leaders flying into the city for Art Basel were stranded for days without a take-off slot.
The private jet operators warned that Hong Kong was missing out on investment as chief executives could not land. Industry figures estimated at least 2,000 slots went unused last year at a cost of HK$100 million, according to a Post estimate, reflecting the potential losses this year.
A lack of fines and enforcement in the system meant slot cancellation and hoarding went unpunished, said Charlie Mularski, chairman of the Asian Business Aviation Association.
“The change gave the operators the tools to mismanage slot requests,” he said. “A large number of slots are wasted, to be honest, and that’s what the association and the Civil Aviation Department must be willing to change to see this behaviour end.”
Mularski said the net effect was “CEOs have not been able to get Hong Kong into their schedule, and they are avoiding it. This city is missing out on attracting the CEOs to come and meet with the locals and invest”.
Diana Chou, daughter of Dragonair founder Chao Kuang-piu, who heads her own private jet business called L’voyage, said her clients waited until the very last minute for slot rights or reposition their aircraft into the mainland or the Philippines.
“A lot of high-net-worth individuals and businessmen came to Art Basel and they couldn’t get out. It’s a nightmare. They discover it is impossible,” she said. “We are putting up the barrier and people are bypassing us.”
Operators could previously obtain slots through the Civil Aviation Department by email and there was flexibility to swap slots. The new system is unable to do that. And cancelled slots are only re-released online within 24 hours of the slot time departure – too short a time for the industry.
Congestion means as little as six take-off or landing slots are available daily, with the rest of the 1,200 slots taken by passenger and cargo airlines.
The Civil Aviation Department warned business jet operators last month to make the “most efficient use of” the Hong Kong slots to “avoid wastage of valuable” capacity. Misused slots could lead to an operator being assigned lower priority for future rights or be unable to take off at all.
The department said it would “review the situation” and improve slot utilisation.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1932197/private-jet-booking-system-hong-kong-airport-leads-slots
