The need for a replacement for Hong Kong's old Kai Tak Airport has been evident since the increase in air traffic in the 1960's. Chek Lap Kok Island off the north coast of Lantau was identified as a possible site as far back as 1974.

In 1989, the Hong Kong Government's Port and Airport Development Study (PADS) confirmed the island of Chek Lap Kok as the site selected for Hong Kong's new Airport.

Chosen for its clear airspace and proximity to the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon, the original 310 ha island was more than tripled in size, through land reclamation, into a man-made 1,248 ha island, and is now home to one of the world's largest and most sophisticated international airports. The project is one of the biggest in civil engineering history.

The new Hong Kong International Airport officially opened on 6 July 1998 and can handle 35 M passengers and 3 M tonnes of cargo a year at time of opening. A second runway (North Runway) was completed in May 1999, and the Northwest Concourse extension opened in January 2000. By the year 2040, the Airport will reach its ultimate annual capacity of 87 M passengers and 9 M tonnes of freight.

On 24 March 1999, an influential group of US construction executives and editors named the megaproject programme to build Hong Kong's new airport and its related infrastructure, collectively known as the Airport Core Programme (ACP), one of the "Top 10 Construction Achievements of the 20th Century" (Airport Authority News, 1999).

P.S.  Airport Authority News (1999) -- Published by the Corporate Affairs Department, Airport Authority Hong Kong, Issue 21, March/ April 1999.