Airport Authority Hong Kong, operator of Asia's third busiest airfield, said it will build a new 1 billion HK dollars (129 million U.S. dollars) ferry terminal, as it expands capacity at the airport to meet growing demand for flights.

The four-berth terminal will open in 2008, the government-owned airport operator said in a statement on November 27. Ferry services link the airport to Macao and to the southern Chinese mainland cities of Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhongshan, Bloomberg News reported.

The new ferry terminal is part of a wider plan to expand capacity at Hong Kong's airport, as Cathay Pacific Airways and other carriers add more flights to the city. The airport's operator is spending 4.5 billion HK dollars by 2010 to add parking stands and other facilities, while a second passenger terminal will open this year, it said in August.

The current ferry terminal, which opened in September 2003, handled 1.5 million passengers last year. The terminal and the ferries are operated by a venture between Shun Tak Holdings Ltd and Chu Kong Shipping Enterprises Holdings Ltd.

Shun Tak Holdings, which operates about 80 percent of the direct ferry services between Hong Kong and Macao, holds 40 percent of the venture, with Chu Kong Shipping holding the rest.

Hong Kong airport's annual passenger numbers may grow 23 percent from last year to more than 50 million by 2010, Howard Eng, director of airport management, said in January. Cargo volume may rise to more than four million metric tons from last year's 3.4 million tons.

Shun Tak, controlled by the family of Macao gaming tycoon Stanley Ho, is also building a Marriot Hotel near the airport.