Foreword


Air transport brings us to distant lands to visit family and friends, and carries a wide variety of freight - from cards and gifts to our loved ones, to fresh produce, goods and equipment for our enjoyment. It also creates jobs and supports a wide range of industries related to trade and tourism. In 2006, the number of aircraft landing and taking off at Hong Kong International Airport grew by 6.4% compared to 2005, reaching a total of 280,387.

To ensure that the immense socio-economic benefits of civil aviation are not jeopardized, we remain constantly mindful to limit its environmental impact. To this end, we continue to manage the aircraft noise problem using the "Balanced Approach" developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The goal is to address the problem in the most cost-effective manner through an exploration of the following:

•	reduction of noise at its source
•	keeping noise-sensitive receivers away from the airport by appropriate land-use planning and management measures
•	noise-abatement operational procedures
•	aircraft operating restrictions.

We fully understand the importance of communicating with local communities and concerned District Councils on matters relating to aircraft noise, and we are committed to maintaining dialogue with them. To this end, aircraft noise data and information on the performance of noise-mitigating measures are regularly uploaded to our web page at http://www.cad.gov.hk/english/ac_noise.html.

In our daily operations, we also fully support green measures in saving resources and reducing waste. In particular, we continue to implement measures that reduce electricity consumption at our operational centres and offices.

In this report, we have reviewed our performance in the year 2006 and outlined our targets for 2007. As always, readers are invited to offer their comments and feedback to help us improve further.