(HONG KONG, 1 December 2016) – Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) today announced the appointment of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) as financial consultant to study the detailed funding plan for the Three-runway System (3RS) of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). The contract was awarded through a tender process.
The financial consultant will analyse different debt structures and identify different forms of financial instruments in both the bank loan and capital markets, and make detailed recommendations on the instruments (such as retail bonds) in relation to timing, size, tenor, etc., that will enable the AA to raise funding for the 3RS project in the most optimal manner. The study is expected to be completed by mid-2017.
The estimated construction cost for the 3RS is HK$141.5 billion in money-of-the-day prices. Predicated on the “joint contribution and user-pay” principle, the AA has formulated the overall financial arrangement for developing the 3RS, which is composed of three funding sources: retaining operating surplus, levying an airport construction fee (ACF) and raising bank loans and issuing bonds of estimated HK$69 billion. The AA announced the abovementioned overall financial arrangement last year and began collecting the ACF from departing passengers from HKIA on 1 August 2016.