AS integrated transport projects go, the new Hong Kong International Airport is streets ahead of the United Kingdom in taking account of the needs of the travelling public.

While Britain still grapples with effective public transport strategies for its growing numbers of air travellers and openly embraces apparent anti-car policies to reduce pollution and congestion, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott - who will be among the 3000 dignitaries attending the opening by President Jiang Zemin of China today - should perhaps look East for inspiration.

Designed by Sir Norman Foster and completed ahead of schedule and under budget in less than six years, the new multi-billion pound project

at Chek Lap Kok and its associated transport has literally risen from

the sea.

Built on reclaimed land to accommodate not only the airport but a new town of 250,000 people, the project and its associated transport initiatives - with a #13bn price tag - have become one of the biggest civil engineering challenges in the world.

It will replace bustling Kai Tak, built to handle 24m passengers a year and already handling more than 25% above its designed capacity. The prime site in the heart of Hong Kong will be levelled and become new building development land.

Conscious of the need for fast travel between the new airport and its business heart to sustain Hong Kong's reputation as a major business player in the financial world, the local authorities drew up plans for major new rail and road links, serving not only the airport, but the proposed purpose-built township Tung Chung New Town, already home to 15,000 residents and expected to accommodate up to 250,000 people, undeterred by airport noise and anxious to escape the crowded and pricey streets of Hong Kong's main islands.

It is then perhaps ironic that the

airport - which will eventually be capable of handling 87m passengers a year - should open as Hong Kong grapples with economic problems.

Meanwhile, the North Lantau Expressway and the Airport Railway are just two of the 10 major projects drawn up by the Airport Core Programme to serve the new air terminal. Travellers by road or rail will cross another ACP project, the spectacular Tsing Ma Bridge - one of the world's longest suspension bridges.

Rail travellers can check in at the Airport Railway Terminal in the bustling Central District, home to Hong Kong's financial centre, before taking the 23-minute journey to Chek Lap Kok - a full 17 minutes faster than the purpose-built road link (a statistic that is bound to delight Scotland's own public transport advocate, David Begg, and draw comparisons with the Heathrow Express, linking central London with the UK's busiest airport).

The importance of the transportation links to the airport and the esteem in which they were held by the powers-that-be is perhaps best demonstrated in the delayed opening of the airport. The facility was completed in April, but the decision was taken to defer its opening in July to allow the completion of the Airport Railway.

Although the journey time on Hong Kong's overcrowded highways is longer, cars can be comfortably accommodated in the airport's 3000 parking spaces, 24 taxi-loading bays, 18 pick-up bays for tour coaches, and 17 public bus bays.

The taste of the future does not end at the gates to the Y-shaped 1.3km-long terminal, for the 37 million passengers expected to use the airport each year.

An automatic unmanned train, running on rubber tyres and concrete tracks will transport them to the more remote of the airport's 80 departure gates, supported by 54 moving pavements, 102 lifts, 63 escalators, and 8000 luggage trolleys.

Beforehand, passengers will be able to check their flight details on one of 2000 display screens before checking in at any one of 288 counters, then sampling the delights of the 141 shops - including 25 bars and restaurants in a 30,000 square metre shopping mall.

The inclusion of integrated public transport in the planning of a new airport is likely to be closely examined by air authorities across the world, who have often been accused of putting the cart before the horse - building the airport and then looking at potential transport links.

The Hong Kong authorities appear to have clearly seen the way ahead in drawing up the plans for Chek Lap Kok, motivated perhaps by 500,000 cars travelling on only 1500km of congested roads in the former colony every day.