Most expensive airport

The new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, which opened on 6 July 1998, cost a total of $20 billion (£12 billion). The bill included the airport terminal building, which at 1.3 km (0.8 miles) long is the largest in the world, as well as infrastructure improvements such as reclaiming the 1,248-ha (3,083-acre) island on which it is built. Other expensive engineering projects included building an adjacent town for 260,000 inhabitants, four underground tunnels, a six-lane highway a 31 km (20 mile) railway and five bridges. Chinese officials claim it will serve Hong Kong for 50 years to 2048. The Chek Lap Kok airport project was launched in 1989 when Hong Kong was still under British rule. A Rolls-Royce powered Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 was the first commercial aircraft to land at Chek Lap Kok, after completing the first ever non-stop polar flight from New York to Hong Kong. The aircraft completed 7,575 nautical miles from New York's John F Kennedy airport to Chek Lap Kok in 15 hours 24 minutes, cutting five hours off the normal flight time.