Macau International Airport [Archive]

SeeMacau

November 4th, 2004, 12:58 AM

Speculation is again rife that Virgin Blue will make its first foray into Asia, after Air Macau's key shareholders met yesterday to discuss a possible joint venture with the Australian airline. While details are unclear, Virgin has been in talks about setting up an airline in the former Portuguese enclave.

Virgin Blue spokesman David Huttner said: "I am aware of this meeting but we're still in negotiations. We have not finalised our situation ... It's normal if you are in discussions to make sure your shareholders are happy on where you're going. But that should not be interpreted to mean that we have reached an agreement."

There has been speculation Air Macau's 51 per cent shareholder, China National Aviation Corporation, will hold a 60 per cent share in the new airline. Virgin will hold 30 per cent and Hong Kong investment group Shun Tak the rest.

The main stumbling block for the deal will be for Air Macau to waive its 25-year concession to operate as Macau's sole airline, granted when the territory opened its airport in 1994. Given the undercapitalised Air Macau services only nine of the 31 Chinese cities it has rights to fly to, pressure is growing for the establishment of another Macau-based airline to boost services and feed the territory's booming casino industry with gamblers.

Hit hard by the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, Air Macau reported a 145 million Macau pataca ($24.2 million) loss in 2003. The airline has a fleet of 11 Airbus passenger aircraft.

CNAC, Shun Tak and another Air Macau shareholder, the Portuguese carrier TAP, were unavailable to comment on yesterday's meeting.

Virgin Blue's Mr Huttner would not specify the nature of the potential Macau deal, adding that Virgin was looking at a number of opportunities in Asia.

But there are concerns the deal could bar Virgin Blue from flying to the nine Chinese mainland cities Air Macau services, which include Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

Analysts were mixed about the deal, with some saying the new airline could be restricted to secondary Asian ports. However, it was also noted that China's secondary cities were still huge population centres, and that the airline might be able to service Asian cities outside China.

Virgin shares rose 5c to $1.86, up 18c or 11 per cent on the week, which was attributed to oil prices dipping below $US50 a barrel this week and signs the airline was clawing back yields.

Citigroup Smith Barney estimates Virgin has managed to lift the average price of a third of its domestic tickets by 15 per cent since March.

hkskyline

November 4th, 2004, 06:03 AM

Thursday November 4, 10:51 AM
Shun Tak, Virgin Blue in Macau air pact-paper

HONG KONG, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Shun Tak Holdings Ltd, owned by casino magnate Stanley Ho, has reached a preliminary agreement with Air Macau and Virgin Blue to jointly establish a low cost airline based in Macau, newspapers said on Thursday.

The reports quoted Shun Tak's Managing Director Pansy Ho as saying the companies had agreed on details of the joint venture, such as shareholding structure and the form of participation.

But Ho declined to elaborate further, the papers said.

The company was not immediately available for comment, but the airline is believed to be mainly targeting mainland Chinese gamblers who flock to Macau's casinos.

Trading in Shun Tak was suspended shortly after market opened on Thursday, pending an announcement from the Hong Kong stock exchange. No further details were immediately available.

Prior to its suspension, shares of Shun Tak jumped 3.45 percent to HK$6, hitting a new high since 1995.

Shun Tak said the venture would be subject to government approval.

Ho was also cited as saying the firm is planning to invest more than HK$1 billion (US$128 million) in hotel and property projects in Macau, the papers reported.

Virgin Blue is 45 percent owned by Australian transport group Patrick Corp. Ltd. and around 26 percent by British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group [VA.UL].

China National Aviation Co. Ltd. owns 51 percent of Air Macau.

(US$1=HK$7.8)

hkskyline

November 5th, 2004, 02:54 AM

Thursday November 4, 1:12 PM
Virgin Blue says still in Shun Tak, Air Macau talks

HONG KONG/SYDNEY, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Australia's discount airline Virgin Blue said on Thursday talks continued with Hong Kong casino magnate Stanley Ho's Shun Tak Holdings Ltd and Air Macau about setting up a Macau-based no-frills airline.

Hong Kong newspapers quoted Shun Tak's Managing Director Pansy Ho as saying the companies had agreed on details of the joint venture, such as shareholding structure and the form of participation, but Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. said no deal was imminent.

"We've certainly had discussions and certainly there are some points we found common ground on and there's other points that we're still working through. But we haven't signed anything at this point in time," David Huttner, Virgin Blue's commercial head, told Reuters. "Nothing is imminent."

Shun Tak, which was not available for comment, wants to target mainland Chinese gamblers who flock to casinos on the tiny island of Macau.

Trading in Shun Tak shares was suspended shortly after the market opened on Thursday, pending an announcement from the Hong Kong stock exchange. Prior to its suspension, shares of Shun Tak jumped 3.45 percent to HK$6, hitting a new high since 1995.

Newspapers also said Ho planned to invest more than HK$1 billion ($128 million) in hotel and property projects in Macau, where tourism and casinos are the main business.

Virgin Blue, which is 45 percent owned by Australian transport group Patrick Corp. Ltd. and around 26 percent by British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group [VA.UL], said it was still in talks with other parties in the region about setting a Asian low-cost venture.

Shares in Virgin Blue rose 0.5 percent to A$1.87 in an overall market up 0.2 percent in afternoon trade.

China National Aviation Co. Ltd. owns 51 percent of Air Macau. Visitor arrivals in Macau surged after Beijing relaxed individual travel permits for citizens of mainland China and liberalised the city's gaming industry.

At least five new casinos are expected to open in the next five years in Macau, the only legal gambling haven in China, including casino entrepreneur Steve Wynn's Wynn Resorts Ltd $705 million resort.

Octogenarian Stanley Ho had a monopoly on the casino business until earlier this year when Las Vegas magnate Sheldon Adelson opened the Macau Sands casino.

The number of hotel rooms is expected to increase fivefold in over the next five years to cope with growing numbers of tourists to the former Portuguese colony.

SeeMacau

November 22nd, 2004, 06:41 AM

China and Macau have agreed a new aviation deal that will see more flights between mainland China and the tourist and gambling resort.

Macau will now be allowed to fly to a further six mainland destinations and to double its flights from 244 to 539. The move comes as Australian low-cost carrier Virgin Blue looks to set up a Macau-based airline and with the extra flight allowance this looks more likely.

Air Macau, the only Macau-based airline currently operating, said that it is in talks with Virgin Blue over low-cost services but declined to reveal any details.

Despite the new deal China refused to allow foreign airlines to fly to Chinese mainland destinations through Macau and major cities such as Beijing will not be open to Macau-based airlines until 2006, reports The Associated Press.

SeeMacau

November 22nd, 2004, 06:48 AM

Casino executives say airline magnate Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, has feelers out to Stanley Ho's Shun Tak and Air Macau about starting up a no-frills airline based in Macau. Asian operators say a Macau-based Virgin Blue would take Chinese to Macau, but Wall Streeters say Branson's real goal is service to Las Vegas. With a billion Chinese living within two miles of the casinos planned by American operators and the government easing travel restrictions, it's not surprising the market has caught Branson's eye.

SeeMacau

November 22nd, 2004, 06:50 AM

HONG KONG -- In a gradual opening of China's skies, Beijing and Macau have agreed to give their airlines more flying rights, which could help the gambling enclave establish itself as a gateway for budget travel.

The new pact signed Wednesday allows a second airline to fly from Macau to the mainland, except for major cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Service to those cities won't begin until the summer of 2006.

The deal will open the way for Australian low-cost carrier Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. to set up a new airline in Macau to serve the booming mainland market. The company said earlier it is exploring the possibility of providing low-cost service from Macau.

Macau's government has been taking measures to liberalize and boost competition in its tourism-dependent economy. In 2002, it ended a decades-long monopoly held by Hong Kong tycoon Stanley Ho on its gambling industry and has since drawn major investment from Las Vegas casino moguls.

Air Macau Co. is currently the only Macau-based airline and Ho holds a 14 percent stake in it. Ho's Hong Kong flagship, Shun Tak Holdings Ltd., said last month that it is in talks with Virgin Blue, but did not provide other details.

Shun Tak did not immediately return a call for an update of the deal Thursday.

The Macau government said in a statement that the aviation agreement with China has "paved the way for big expansion in the future."

Under the pact, Macau can now serve six more mainland destinations for a total of 37. The total weekly passenger flights permitted between Macau and China has increased to 539, from the current 244, while cargo flights have also doubled to 50 per week.

The government also said Beijing has declined its request to let foreign airlines to fly to the mainland through Macau but the two sides have agreed to hold further discussions on this issue.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony that returned to China in 1999, is governed separately. Airline flights between the two are similar to international services, with passengers required to show travel documentation as they pass through immigration controls and customs.

The enclave draws thousands of gamblers from nearby mainland China and from Hong Kong, 40 miles east.

SeeMacau

November 22nd, 2004, 06:51 AM

VIRGIN BLUE confirmed yesterday it was negotiating a joint venture deal to operate into China from the Asian casino city of Macau.

Managing director Brett Godfrey said it was one of two projects currently being examined in the ASEAN region.

"Hopefully we will do one of them but we are not going to talk about a deal that's not done," he said.

The Virgin CEO told a Securities Institute lunch in Melbourne earlier that Virgin Blue's overseas offshoot, Pacific Blue, had also applied this week for federal government approval to operate daily flights to Fiji.

Virgin Blue has been in talks with casino magnate Stanley Ho's Shun Tak Holdings about setting up the low-cost airline in Macau.

The airline is keen to tap the growing number of gamblers who fly from mainland China to Macau's casinos.

Pressed about a future joint venture, Mr Godfrey replied that he would like to be in a position to discuss the arrangement.

"We are not in a position to announce anything because we are not in a position where we have negotiated everything," he added.

"It means ongoing talks with them and others about potential opportunities in that part of the world."

SeeMacau

November 22nd, 2004, 07:05 AM

The central government has agreed to let another airline fly to the Chinese mainland from Macao, which could help the tourism-dependent region establish itself as a gateway for budget travel.

The new pact signed Wednesday allows a second airline to fly from Macao to the Chinese mainland, except for major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Service to those cities would be opened in the summer of 2006, officials said at the signing ceremony.

The number of destinations Macao can serve in the mainland market has increased to 37 from 31, while the number of weekly passenger flights has been raised 82 percent to 539. Cargo flights will also double to 50 a week.

The agreement had "paved the way for big expansion in the future," the Macao SAR government said in a statement.

The government did not mention specific airlines, but Australian budget carrier Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd has said it is exploring the possibility of operating a low-cost service out of Macao.

Air Macao, in which Hong Kong tycoon Stanley Ho holds a 14 percent stake, is the only Macao-based airline.

November 22nd, 2004, 04:10 PM

Don't u think u post too much?

SeeMacau

November 25th, 2004, 09:19 AM

^^ I just post what i find ..

SeeMacau

November 26th, 2004, 01:34 PM

SINGAPORE : SilkAir, the regional wing of national carrier Singapore Airlines, is suspending its twice-weekly flights to Macau with effect from January 1 next year.

When contacted by Channel NewsAsia a SilkAir spokesperson said the decision was taken for "commercial reasons", and that customers can be served by SIA's flights to Hong Kong.

Macau and Hong Kong are linked by high-speed ferry.

Both are part of the Pearl Delta region, which in recent years has seen a mushrooming of airports.

SilkAir said that passengers who have tickets for Macau flights after December 31 will be offered a full refund or an alternative routing.

hkskyline

December 18th, 2004, 09:00 PM

Harmony Airways eyes China
Wants a Vancouver-Macau route by 2006
PETER KENNEDY
16 December 2004
Breaking News from globeandmail.com

VANCOUVER -- Harmony Airways, the upstart airline headed by Vancouver entrepreneur David Ho, is gearing up to use high-profile political connections to enter the Chinese market.After naming former British Columbia finance minister Gary Collins as its new chief executive officer yesterday, Harmony hopes to be flying passengers between Macau and Vancouver by early 2006.

"The world is getting smaller and people are travelling more," said Mr. Ho during a splashy news conference at the Vancouver airport. "The opportunities down the road are going to be tremendous." A Vancouver entrepreneur with an interest in exotic cars, Mr. Ho is known as Dr. Ho in B.C. after receiving an honorary degree from the University of Richmond in Virginia. His grandfather made his fortune selling cigarettes in China.

A frequent air traveller with extensive business interests in Hong Kong, Mr. Ho launched what was previously known as HMY Airlines two years ago to offer flights from Canada to Las Vegas and Mexico. His initial plan was to fill a void left in the market by the collapse of Canada 3000 Inc., which went bankrupt in November, 2001.

But after recently changing its name to Harmony, the company has expanded its service to include Honolulu, Maui and Toronto.

"We consider ourselves to be a boutique airline that aims to develop routes and services as we see fit for the Vancouver market," said company spokeswoman Marie McDonnell.

Harmony currently uses three leased Boeing 757s, one of which was parked outside the departure lounge that was used to host yesterday's news conference.

But Mr. Ho clearly has much bigger plans, and believes he now has the business and political connections to make them happen.

Now that it has hired Mr. Collins, Harmony is hoping to secure rights to fly to China next year, a move that would require an agreement between China and the Canadian government. It would also put Harmony in a position to compete with major airlines such as Cathay Pacific and Air Canada.

Mr. Collins, a 41-year-old former commercial pilot, has agreed to take on the job after spending 13 years in politics.

"Flying has always been one of my major passions," said Mr. Collins, who recently helped political ally B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell balance the provincial books.

If it can secure regulatory approval from Ottawa, Harmony's immediate goal is to fly into regions that are not well served by the North American airline industry.

hkskyline

January 27th, 2005, 05:59 PM

Lucky Virgin Blue on a roll with Macau-China flights
Steve Creedy
26 January 2005
The Australian

VIRGIN Blue is believed to be on the verge of unveiling an agreement that will give it access to the lucrative Chinese market through a deal in Macau.

Macau International Airport executive director John Chan Wai Leong said last night a deal with a low-cost carrier was expected within 30 days, with flights to the territory due to start by the end of the year.

Mr Leong would not name the carrier but said it was "a proven carrier, not a fly-by-night operator". "It's got a good track record."

Sources said they believed Virgin Blue had already signed an in-principle agreement and was waiting for paperwork to be done before making an announcement.

Rumours have been circulating for months that Virgin Blue wanted to form a joint venture with Air Macau to service routes between the gambling centre and China.

hkskyline

February 16th, 2005, 10:07 PM

Macao Intl Airport Jan 2005 Cargo Traffic Up 68 Pct Y/Y
02 February 2005
Portuguese News Digest

Cargo traffic at Macao's International Airport Taipa rose by 68 pct year-on-year in January 2005 to a total 17,617 tonnes, data from the airport's authorities ADA, controlled by Portuguese airport operator ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal, showed on February 2, 2005.

The airport ended 2004 with 221,000 tonnes of cargo traffic, up 56 pct year-on-year. The average monthly cargo traffic in 2004 stood at 18,417 tonnes.

The number of passengers at the international airport in Macao remained unchanged at 289,701 in January 2005 compared to the same month of 2004.

The postal traffic at the airport surged by 147 pct to some 18 tonnes in January 2005, after the fall registered for the full 2004. No comparative figures were available.

Macao's International Airport was officially opened on December 8, 1995. Macao's flag carrier Air Macau accounts for close to half of the total airport traffic. Air Macau operates flights connecting China with Taiwan.

ADA has earlier announced it planned to invest an undisclosed sum in various reconstruction and modernisation projects in 2005, aimed at improving the airport's capacity.

(Alternative/Original name: Aeroporto Internacional de Macau, Administracao de Aeroportos)

SeeMacau

February 18th, 2005, 02:58 PM

SN30952 writes "We want to build up Macau not only as a destination but as a gateway to Hong Kong and Southern China said Tiger chief executive officer Tony Davis at a press lunch yesterday.

Earlier this month, Tiger Airways applied for rights to fly to Clarke Field, serving passengers waiting to travel to Manila.

Mr Davis said the reason Tiger was launching flights to Chiang Mai was to build up a "critical mass"."

SeeMacau

February 18th, 2005, 03:03 PM

Territory is airline's 8th destination

shobha@newstoday.com.sg

Shobha Tsering Bhalla
.
TIGER Airways, one of Singapore's three low-cost carriers (LCC), has just been given the rights to fly to Macau by the territory's authorities — making it the airline's eighth destination since it began operations five months ago.
.
Its other destinations include Bangkok, Phuket, Hatyai, Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Singapore.
.
Also, in what is a first for a Singapore-based LLC, Tiger Airways will offer "through" tickets on buses and ferries to Hong Kong and neighbouring destinations in China's Pearl Delta.
.
"We want to build up Macau not only as a destination but as a gateway to Hong Kong and Southern China. This could mean through tickets that include passes to Hong Kong's upcoming Disney Land theme park, said Tiger chief executive officer Tony Davis at a press lunch yesterday.
.
It expects to start flying there within two months, or as soon as it has sorted out the paperwork, said Mr Davis. "The air rights are available to us. It's only a matter of formalities being sorted out," he said.
.
The airline is in the process of confirming the number of weekly flights it will offer to Macau, but industry sources said daily flights are likely.
.
Seeking out secondary routes and developing new hubs is how Tiger plans to differentiate itself from the competition, following the business model of leading European LCC Ryanair, whose founder Tony Ryan has a stake in Tiger.
.
Citing as an example its strategy in Thailand where it flies to four cities, Mr Davis said the reason Tiger was launching flights to Chiang Mai was to build up a "critical mass".
.
"The European experience is critical here because like Europe, Asia is not a homogeneous whole — it has several languages and currencies.
.
"Our strategy is to have a network of destinations within a country where the currency and language are the same. This way it's more cost-effective for us," said Mr Davis, who is a former British LCC executive.
.
A key part of its business strategy is developing secondary routes; hence the choice of cities such as Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam and Macau instead of Hong Kong, he said.
.
But such a business strategy may not be easy to sustain here as there are few secondary airports in Asia, said industry insiders.
.
"Unlike Europe, there aren't many secondary airports to choose from. Macau is not a secondary airport to Hong Kong, nor is Clarke Field (in the Philippines) a secondary airport to Manila," said an executive at a rival airline who asked not to be named.
.
Earlier this month, Tiger Airways applied for rights to fly to Clarke Field, serving passengers waiting to travel to Manila.
Territory is airline's 8th destination

shobha@newstoday.com.sg

Shobha Tsering Bhalla
.
TIGER Airways, one of Singapore's three low-cost carriers (LCC), has just been given the rights to fly to Macau by the territory's authorities — making it the airline's eighth destination since it began operations five months ago.
.
Its other destinations include Bangkok, Phuket, Hatyai, Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Singapore.
.
Also, in what is a first for a Singapore-based LLC, Tiger Airways will offer "through" tickets on buses and ferries to Hong Kong and neighbouring destinations in China's Pearl Delta.
.
"We want to build up Macau not only as a destination but as a gateway to Hong Kong and Southern China. This could mean through tickets that include passes to Hong Kong's upcoming Disney Land theme park, said Tiger chief executive officer Tony Davis at a press lunch yesterday.
.
It expects to start flying there within two months, or as soon as it has sorted out the paperwork, said Mr Davis. "The air rights are available to us. It's only a matter of formalities being sorted out," he said.
.
The airline is in the process of confirming the number of weekly flights it will offer to Macau, but industry sources said daily flights are likely.
.
Seeking out secondary routes and developing new hubs is how Tiger plans to differentiate itself from the competition, following the business model of leading European LCC Ryanair, whose founder Tony Ryan has a stake in Tiger.
.
Citing as an example its strategy in Thailand where it flies to four cities, Mr Davis said the reason Tiger was launching flights to Chiang Mai was to build up a "critical mass".
.
"The European experience is critical here because like Europe, Asia is not a homogeneous whole — it has several languages and currencies.
.
"Our strategy is to have a network of destinations within a country where the currency and language are the same. This way it's more cost-effective for us," said Mr Davis, who is a former British LCC executive.
.
A key part of its business strategy is developing secondary routes; hence the choice of cities such as Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam and Macau instead of Hong Kong, he said.
.
But such a business strategy may not be easy to sustain here as there are few secondary airports in Asia, said industry insiders.
.
"Unlike Europe, there aren't many secondary airports to choose from. Macau is not a secondary airport to Hong Kong, nor is Clarke Field (in the Philippines) a secondary airport to Manila," said an executive at a rival airline who asked not to be named.
.
Earlier this month, Tiger Airways applied for rights to fly to Clarke Field, serving passengers waiting to travel to Manila.
Territory is airline's 8th destination

shobha@newstoday.com.sg

Shobha Tsering Bhalla
.
TIGER Airways, one of Singapore's three low-cost carriers (LCC), has just been given the rights to fly to Macau by the territory's authorities — making it the airline's eighth destination since it began operations five months ago.
.
Its other destinations include Bangkok, Phuket, Hatyai, Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Singapore.
.
Also, in what is a first for a Singapore-based LLC, Tiger Airways will offer "through" tickets on buses and ferries to Hong Kong and neighbouring destinations in China's Pearl Delta.
.
"We want to build up Macau not only as a destination but as a gateway to Hong Kong and Southern China. This could mean through tickets that include passes to Hong Kong's upcoming Disney Land theme park, said Tiger chief executive officer Tony Davis at a press lunch yesterday.
.
It expects to start flying there within two months, or as soon as it has sorted out the paperwork, said Mr Davis. "The air rights are available to us. It's only a matter of formalities being sorted out," he said.
.
The airline is in the process of confirming the number of weekly flights it will offer to Macau, but industry sources said daily flights are likely.
.
Seeking out secondary routes and developing new hubs is how Tiger plans to differentiate itself from the competition, following the business model of leading European LCC Ryanair, whose founder Tony Ryan has a stake in Tiger.
.
Citing as an example its strategy in Thailand where it flies to four cities, Mr Davis said the reason Tiger was launching flights to Chiang Mai was to build up a "critical mass".
.
"The European experience is critical here because like Europe, Asia is not a homogeneous whole — it has several languages and currencies.
.
"Our strategy is to have a network of destinations within a country where the currency and language are the same. This way it's more cost-effective for us," said Mr Davis, who is a former British LCC executive.
.
A key part of its business strategy is developing secondary routes; hence the Territory is airline's 8th destination

shobha@newstoday.com.sg

Shobha Tsering Bhalla
.
TIGER Airways, one of Singapore's three low-cost carriers (LCC), has just been given the rights to fly to Macau by the territory's authorities — making it the airline's eighth destination since it began operations five months ago.
.
Its other destinations include Bangkok, Phuket, Hatyai, Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Singapore.
.
Also, in what is a first for a Singapore-based LLC, Tiger Airways will offer "through" tickets on buses and ferries to Hong Kong and neighbouring destinations in China's Pearl Delta.
.
"We want to build up Macau not only as a destination but as a gateway to Hong Kong and Southern China. This could mean through tickets that include passes to Hong Kong's upcoming Disney Land theme park, said Tiger chief executive officer Tony Davis at a press lunch yesterday.
.
It expects to start flying there within two months, or as soon as it has sorted out the paperwork, said Mr Davis. "The air rights are available to us. It's only a matter of formalities being sorted out," he said.
.
The airline is in the process of confirming the number of weekly flights it will offer to Macau, but industry sources said daily flights are likely.
.
Seeking out secondary routes and developing new hubs is how Tiger plans to differentiate itself from the competition, following the business model of leading European LCC Ryanair, whose founder Tony Ryan has a stake in Tiger.
.
Citing as an example its strategy in Thailand where it flies to four cities, Mr Davis said the reason Tiger was launching flights to Chiang Mai was to build up a "critical mass".
.
"The European experience is critical here because like Europe, Asia is not a homogeneous whole — it has several languages and currencies.
.
"Our strategy is to have a network of destinations within a country where the currency and language are the same. This way it's more cost-effective for us," said Mr Davis, who is a former British LCC executive.
.
A key part of its business strategy is developing secondary routes; hence the choice of cities such as Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam and Macau instead of Hong Kong, he said.
.
But such a business strategy may not be easy to sustain here as there are few secondary airports in Asia, said industry insiders.
.
"Unlike Europe, there aren't many secondary airports to choose from. Macau is not a secondary airport to Hong Kong, nor is Clarke Field (in the Philippines) a secondary airport to Manila," said an executive at a rival airline who asked not to be named.
.
Earlier this month, Tiger Airways applied for rights to fly to Clarke Field, serving passengers waiting to travel to Manila.

Territory is airline's 8th destination

shobha@newstoday.com.sg

Shobha Tsering Bhalla
.
TIGER Airways, one of Singapore's three low-cost carriers (LCC), has just been given the rights to fly to Macau by the territory's authorities — making it the airline's eighth destination since it began operations five months ago.
.
Its other destinations include Bangkok, Phuket, Hatyai, Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Singapore.
.
Also, in what is a first for a Singapore-based LLC, Tiger Airways will offer "through" tickets on buses and ferries to Hong Kong and neighbouring destinations in China's Pearl Delta.
.
"We want to build up Macau not only as a destination but as a gateway to Hong Kong and Southern China. This could mean through tickets that include passes to Hong Kong's upcoming Disney Land theme park, said Tiger chief executive officer Tony Davis at a press lunch yesterday.
.
It expects to start flying there within two months, or as soon as it has sorted out the paperwork, said Mr Davis. "The air rights are available to us. It's only a matter of formalities being sorted out," he said.
.
The airline is in the process of confirming the number of weekly flights it will offer to Macau, but industry sources said daily flights are likely.
.
Seeking out secondary routes and developing new hubs is how Tiger plans to differentiate itself from the competition, following the business model of leading European LCC Ryanair, whose founder Tony Ryan has a stake in Tiger.
.
Citing as an example its strategy in Thailand where it flies to four cities, Mr Davis said the reason Tiger was launching flights to Chiang Mai was to build up a "critical mass".
.
"The European experience is critical here because like Europe, Asia is not a homogeneous whole — it has several languages and currencies.
.
"Our strategy is to have a network of destinations within a country where the currency and language are the same. This way it's more cost-effective for us," said Mr Davis, who is a former British LCC executive.
.
A key part of its business strategy is developing secondary routes; hence the choice of cities such as Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam and Macau instead of Hong Kong, he said.
.
But such a business strategy may not be easy to sustain here as there are few secondary airports in Asia, said industry insiders.
.
"Unlike Europe, there aren't many secondary airports to choose from. Macau is not a secondary airport to Hong Kong, nor is Clarke Field (in the Philippines) a secondary airport to Manila," said an executive at a rival airline who asked not to be named.
.
Earlier this month, Tiger Airways applied for rights to fly to Clarke Field, serving passengers waiting to travel to Manila.
.

SeeMacau

March 3rd, 2005, 04:39 AM

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Singapore Airlines' (S55.SG) budget airline affiliate, Tiger Airways, Wednesday said it will start flying to Macau from late March and Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam from April as it seeks to diversify its revenue base.

It will fly five times a week to Macau starting Mar. 25, four times a week to Ho Chi Minh City from April 1 and thrice weekly to Hanoi from April 7.

The airline will also increase flights to Phuket from the current seven times a week to 10 times.

Ticket sales for the new services start Thursday, Tiger said in a statement.

"Tiger Airways is excited to be Singapore's only low cost carrier to be offering low fares for flights to Macau and Vietnam. This will strengthen the connectivity between Singapore and these destinations and result in more business and tourism with both countries," said Tony Davis, CEO of Tiger Airways.

Tiger expects to launch services to Indonesia and the Philippines by 1H05.

Unlike its rivals Valuair and Qantas Airways affiliate Jetstar Asia, Tiger currently flies only to destinations in Thailand - Bangkok, Hat Yai and Phuket.

While traffic to Bangkok has remained strong, tourist flow to Phuket has sharply declined after the beach resort city was devastated by the tidal waves in late December.

hkskyline

March 18th, 2005, 09:36 AM

Orient Thai skipping enclave for time being
Zach Coleman
18 March 2005
The Standard

Orient Thai Airlines has no plans to start services to Macau for the time being despiteits successful campaign last year for the right to fly to the SAR.

"We're not in a hurry," said Udom Tantiprasongchai, the carrier's managingdirector and chief executive. "Demandis very poor."

Udom last year sought to make Macau the first overseas destination for Orient Thai's discount arm, One-Two-Go. But because rival budget carrier AirAsia had started its own Bangkok-Macau flights, One-Two-Go was blocked as the aviation agreement betweenThailand and Macau then allowedonly one airline from each side to offer regular flights. Air Macau already served the route from this end.

One-Two-Go operated a few charter flights from Pattaya before the Thai and Macau governments agreed to liberalize air traffic rights last fall. After flying some more charters from Bangkok, One-Two-Go gave up.

"There's overcapacity in this sector,"Udom said. Travelers from Thailand have been put off flying to Macau because of rising hotel room rates. "There's just not enough hotel rooms in Macau," he said.

According to figures from the Statisticsand Census Service, Macau's room supply contracted by 0.2 percent last year to 9,168 rooms.

For the year, hotels filled 76 percent of available rooms. The number of hotel guests coming from Thailand quadrupledin January from the same month a year ago to 1,895. Most Thai visitors stayed in four-star hotels.

Udom claimed AirAsia is doing poorly on its Macau route, filling only half the seats on its flights and selling many of those at deep discount.

AirAsia's Web site features one-way, pre-tax fares between Macau and Bangkok as low as 179 patacas, just over the promotional price of 149 patacas at which AirAsia introduced the service and below the 219 pataca level chief executive Tony Fernandes identifiedlast year; the price of the most expensivetickets has fallen to 679 patacas from 709 patacas.

AirAsia spokeswoman Jeamie Lee, however, disputed Udom's contentions.

"Our loads are very good," she said, pointing to the airline's addition of a second daily flight on the route just three months after it started service. She said that the airline has filled three-quarters of the seats on the flights since they started.

"Macau is one of our top sectors from Kuala Lumpur," she added, citing an 80 percent seat-fill rate. Many passengers taking AirAsia to Macau are traveling onward to Hong Kong or mainland China, she said.

Orient Thai serves Hong Kong and Guangzhou directly.

hkskyline

March 19th, 2005, 06:47 AM

Macau International Airport attended the "First Logistic Summit on Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau" in Shenzhen
2005-03-17

A delegation of the Macau International Airport Company Limited led by Mr. Cui Guang, Director of Logistic Cargo Development, representing the Company attended the "First Logistic Summit on Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau" in Shenzhen which was jointly organized by the Shenzhen Municipal Office of the Leading Group for Logistics Development, Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and the Bureau of Economy of the Macao SAR Government.

The two-day Summit took place at Shenzhen Wuzhou Guest House; it was the first designed topic since the implementation of CEPA and the Pan-PRD Regional Co-operation Framework Agreement. The Vice Mayor of Shenzhen, Mr Liu Yingli delivered the opening address of the Forum unfolding the current logistics development of Shenzhen. More than 200 industry practitioners from the logistics sectors in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau attended this "First Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Logistics Summit".

The focus of the summit is to explore competitive advantages of the three cities´ logistics sectors and identify the areas for co-operation for sustainable development. Government officials and industry leaders from the three cities presented their latest developments in customs and logistics policies and regulations, logistics infrastructure, industry trends and e-logistics technologies. After the Forum's proceedings, the delegates had the opportunity to visit some of the industry´s entities in Shenzhen.

Mr. Franco Kwan, Manager and Mr. Stanley Sam, officer of Logistic Cargo Development represented Macau International Airport Co. Ltd attended in this summit as well.

SeeMacau

March 25th, 2005, 04:34 AM

Zach Coleman

March 25, 2005

After decades as a day-trip destination for Hong Kong's ferry-riding multitudes, Macau now welcomes busloads of mainlanders on excursion.

But former Cathay Pacific Airways executive Andrew Pyne intends to bring visitors by the planeful from Europe, the Middle East, North America and Africa.

``We're not viewing Macau as a transit point but as an exciting destination,'' said Pyne, the public face of the yet-secret band of investors from Macau, Hong Kong, Australia, Italy and the United States who are raising US$30 million (HK$234 million) to launch airline Wow Macau later this year. ``This place is booming.''

As a startup, Wow is keen to avoid head-to-head competition so the lack of long-distance flights from Macau appeals to Pyne's group more than Hong Kong's saturated marketplace. Macau officials have negotiated air services agreements with 41 countries, but only six are presently served by passenger flights, another reason for Wow to skip Hong Kong's long route licensing process.

Operating from Macau, however, requires the consent of Air Macau as the incumbent holds a 25-year legal monopoly on offering commercial flights there. Talks are advancing and Pyne expects the two airlines to work out an agreement to channel traffic between Air Macau's regional flights and Wow's planned long-haul routes. Air Macau's best customers are Taiwanese traveling to mainland China on business or pleasure, few of whom stop off in the territory for a look around. Officially, 5 percent of the 2.9 million people who visited Macau in the first two months of the year came by air, but that figure includes people transiting between flights here and nearby cities by road or sea. Pyne believes Wow can help raise the air share up to 15 percent. He anticipates carrying one million passengers annually within two years with an initial fleet of five leased Boeing 757 and 767 jets, which are both mid-sized and mid-range.

Generating those passenger numbers will require extending Wow's target market to include some passengers traveling to and from Hong Kong and nearby mainland cities, Pyne admitted. Acknowledging that Wow will need to provide an incentive beyond price to fly via Macau, Pyne said the carrier will sell tickets through innovative channels that he declined to reveal and will offer a much broader range of food, entertainment and seating choices than the conventional class options of economy, business or first.

Wow currently has a staff of 14, but Pyne sees that growing to 400 by launch. He expects the carrier will operate 10 planes within four years and he has his sights on introducing the new mid-sized, long-range Boeing 787 model by 2010. Pyne expects Wow to generate at least 20 percent of revenue from carrying cargo.

hkskyline

March 25th, 2005, 05:52 PM

Airline passengers end fog delay row with EVA Airways
8 February 2005
The China Post

Two groups of airline passengers ended protests against overnight delays in flights from Macau and went home yesterday after EVA Airways paid each of them NT$2,500 as compensation for the inconveniences.

The protesters were among 596 passengers stranded at Macau airport and were forced to spend the night there due to heavy fog at Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport.

The fog, which reduced visibility to less than 100 meters forced postponement of more than 100 international and domestic flights in the past two days.

The passengers for the two EVA Airways flights were scheduled to return last night but didn't reach CKS airport until 800 a.m. and 1210 p.m. respectively.

Both groups refused to leave their aircrafts for about an hour, claiming they had been ignored by the airline, which they said was trying to avoid putting them up in a Macau hotel for the night.

"The airline repeatedly lied to us. Time and again they told us to stand by at various boarding gates. What they did was aimed at saving the due accommodation fees," one passenger said.

More than a dozen of police officers finally managed to persuade the passengers to disembark after an hour.

But the passengers carried their protest into the EVA Airways counter at the airport, where they demanded US$200 plus ground transportation service to take them to the three metropolises -- Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung -- as compensation from EVA Airways, police officials said.

An EVA Airways spokesman said weather could not be used to demand compensation for delays. "Weather is a factor beyond our control," he said.

Aviation officials and police officers also emphasized that the regulations prohibit passengers from engaging in sit-ins or protests of other forms due to forces majeur.

But following negotiations, the airline agreed to give NT$2,500 (US$78.86) and a meal coupon worth US$20 to each of the passengers who later embarked on trips home for the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.

But some passengers declined the offer saying they would ask a non-profit consumers protection group to arbitrate the dispute.

Officials of the Consumers Foundation pointed out that although the heavy fog was beyond human control, the airlines were still obligated to provide passengers with assistance for food, beverages, and boarding.

They said it didn't surprise them that passengers became emotional after they were forced to spend the whole night Sunday at the Macau airport and changed boarding gates seven or eight times as told by airline staff but were still unable to get on the planes until yesterday morning.

babystan03

March 25th, 2005, 06:48 PM

Business Times - 25 Mar 2005

Tiger Airways launches service to gambling enclave of Macau

HONG KONG - Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways on Friday launched flights between the Republic and the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.

Tiger Airways, a unit of Singapore Airlines, said it will fly five times a week between Singapore and Macau, a former Portuguese colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1999.

"Tiger Airways is excited to add Macau as our new destination," said Tony Davis, the airline's chief executive. "Given we are the only service between the two vibrant cities, we hope to play our part in boosting the economy and tourism locally."

Macau is 60 kilometres west of Hong Kong and attracts thousands of Hong Kong and Chinese gamblers who have no casinos at home.

Mr Davis said in a statement that the airline will further expand its service in the region in the next two months. It will launch flights to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and Manila, the Philippines' capital, in April and to Indonesia's Padang city in May.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

hkskyline

March 26th, 2005, 03:12 AM

Macau International Airport Co. Ltd. participates in New Route Asia 2005
2005-03-07

A delegation of the Macau International Airport Co. Ltd. participated the third annual New Route Asia 2005 which took place from 7th - 8th March 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. New Route Asia is a forum designed to bring airlines and airports together to discuss future market opportunities. It is a regional event focused entirely on the development of air services within the Asia Pacific region and this year.with over 300 delegates in attendance at this year´s event - a record for this event.

A promotional booth was jointly set up by Macau International Airport Co. Ltd. and Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd., where the forum participants had access to Macau International Airport Co. Ltd.´s video and information of the airport services and facilities and its latest achievements, namely the CAPA Asia Pacific Airport of the Year, 2004.

During the proceedings of the forum the representatives from the Macau International Airport Co. Ltd. held meetings with both airlines and airports. Macau´s aviation environment as well as the latest developments in the infrastructure, tourism, gaming and entertainment were the main topics the airlines discussed with the MIA representatives. A lot of airlines showed interested in Macau International Airport and will plan inspection trips to Macau shortly.. Information and experience sharing also took place when meeting with colleagues from other Asian Airports.

Mr. Neo Liu, Manager of Marketing Department, Ms. Patricia Au, Assistant Manager of Marketing Department and Mr. João Antunes, Assistant Manager of Communications Department represented Macau International Airport Co. Ltd in this forum.

hkskyline

April 1st, 2005, 07:08 AM

Nok Air in race to tap Thai travel boom
Zach Coleman
1 April 2005
The Standard

Thai discount carrier Nok Air plans to start services in July from Bangkok to Macau, making the SAR its first internationaldestination.

Chief executive Patee Sarasin said he is targeting Macau as a stepping-stone into the mainland and because he expects interest in travel to the territory to surge in Thailand.

"It's just a gambling center for now," he said. "I think within the next two years, Macau is going to sprout into a center of entertainment for Asia."

Thailand emerged as Macau's fastest-growing source of visitors last year, sending 41,841 residents to the SAR, a 131 percent jump on 2003.

Patee said Nok Air wants to operate flights from Macau to mainland cities and that he is setting up a team in the SAR to pursue this strategy.

Flying from here will require the consent of Air Macau as it holds a 25-year monopoly on local commercial airline operations, but Patee said Nok Air is not yet in talks with the carrier.

Air Macau's favor is much in demandas Australia's Virgin Blue Airlines and local group Wow Macau are also seeking permission for flights from the territory.

As an intermediate step, Patee said, Nok Air will introduce flights to Shenzhen and other mainland cities from Bangkok, possibly by year-end.

Even for the Macau-Bangkok flights, Nok Air is counting on drawing many customers from the mainland to tap interest there in travel to Thailand.

Though he expects most early passengers on the new flights to be Thai, Patee said familiarity with Nok Air has already spread beyond Thailand, citing internal figures showing up to 30 percentof passengers on some domestic routes to be foreigners. Macau airport officials started courting Patee even beforeNok launched last summer.

The airline, in which Thai Airways International holds a 39 percent stake, has made its mark in Thailand's cut-throat domestic market with sales innovations, such as distributing tickets through 7-Eleven stores, video rental outlets and ATMs.

To ease its entry into Macau, Nok Air is in talks to enlist local travel agents to promote its flights, but Patee said it will also carve out some new channels here. "It could be ATMs," he said.

Nok Air also distinguishes itself from other discount carriers by offering business class service. For an extra 500 baht (HK$99), domestic passengers get a bigger seat, a drink and a snack, a newspaper, double baggage-weight allowance and looser rules on bookings.

Nok Air will offer the same class of service on its Macau flights using the same Boeing 737-400 jets but will also introduce something new that Patee insists on keeping secret.

"It's a new kind of service," he said. "It'll be the talk of the town."

Nok Air's Bangkok-Macau flights will compete directly with those offered by Air Macau and AirAsia, another discountcarrier that is battling Nok Air on Thai domestic routes. AirAsia flies from Macau twice a day and Air Macau goes four times a week, with Thai Airways also selling seats on its flights.

Nok Air will initially fly the route once a day. Patee is confident demand will be sufficient to sustain entry of anotherairline. Nok Air will emphasize its innovations rather than aim to be the cheapest carrier, he said.

Patee's comments come as Singapore discount carrier Tiger Airways grabbed the spotlight this week by offering limited tickets on its new Macau-Singapore flights for a pre-tax price of HK$45 each way. AirAsia introduced its Macau-Bangkok flights at the promotional pre-tax price of 149 patacas (HK$145).

Patee indicated that Nok Air is also choosing to fly north to Macau because of the heavy competition on "southern"routes such as Bangkok-Singapore,a corridor served by several budget carriers as well as full-service airlines. "That market is very much saturated," he said. Macau beat out other airports in this area as Nok Air's first target because of its low fees.

hkskyline

April 2nd, 2005, 06:35 PM

Air Macau Swings to 6.8 Mln Euro Profit - 2004
30 March 2005
Portuguese News Digest

Flag carrier Air Macau, in which Portuguese flag carrier TAP Air Portugal has a stake, ended 2004 with a net profit of 71 mln Macao patacas ($8.9 mln/6.8 mln euro), it was reported on March 30, 2005.

The carrier posted a net loss of 150 mln patacas ($18.7 mln/14.5 mln euro) for 2003.

The 2004 results followed a recovery of the Asian airlines market, after the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic outbreak in China, Hong Kong and other southeastern Asian countries in the first six months of 2003. The outbreak resulted in a loss of some 500,000 passengers and the cancellation of some 100 flights for Air Macau in 2003.

Air Macau flies a fleet of five Airbus A321 aircraft, one Airbus A320, five Airbus A319, and three cargo aircraft. The company operates 14 regional routes, eight to China continental, two to Taiwan and one to Bangkok, Manila and Seoul each.

Air Macau's was established in September 1994 and its main shareholder is the aviation conglomerate China National Aviation Corp with 51 pct.

SeeMacau

April 11th, 2005, 09:58 AM

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Macau Eagle Aviation Services Ltd., a startup airline, said it expects to begin operating this year after finalizing a concession agreement with Macau's incumbent air carrier.

Macau Eagle, whose airline will be marketed under the brand name of WOW!Macau, said it "aims to work with Air Macau by feeding overseas traffic to its existing mainland China- and Taiwan-focused route network."

Air Macau Co. is now the Chinese territory's sole airline, though a number of new budget carriers have been eyeing Macau as a possible base. Macau's airport has lower costs than nearby Hong Kong and is handling a growing number of passengers thanks to a local tourism boom.

Air Macau is majority owned by China National Aviation Co. (1110.HK), a Chinese government company, but Macau tycoon Stanley Ho also has a large interest.

Macau Eagle had reportedly also been considering Hong Kong as a base but the company said it is now "prepared to make a definite commitment to Macau" because of support from the local government and business community.

"We intend to welcome customers to our services well before the end of the year," Chief Executive Andrew Pyne said in a statement.

He said the expected sub-concession agreement with Air Macau hasn't yet been completed, and said a firm launch date and service plans would only be announced once that deal is done.

Macau Eagle's announcement came close on the heels of one by another new airline in neighboring Hong Kong. On Friday, Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd. said it had been licensed by the local government and would start applying for traffic rights.

The company operates passenger helicopter services in Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen, but has bought mid-sized jet airliners with plans to expand service to second-tier Chinese cities as well.

SeeMacau

April 20th, 2005, 08:31 AM

Air Macau, the only carrier operating from the former Portuguese colony, plans to end its monopoly by sharing traffic rights with airlines that want to start flights from the city.

Air Macau has government permission to talk to carriers that want to start up in the city, said Simon Chan, acting president of Macau's Civil Aviation Authority, in an interview at an aviation conference here yesterday.

"As to how Air Macau will co-operate with them, that's outside the Government's control," Mr Chan said. Air Macau could set up a joint venture with other companies or share its rights, he said.

Air Macau, which was given a 25-year, exclusive operating licence in the city in 1995, now flies to 14 destinations in China and South-East Asia.

Shun Tak Holdings, controlled by casino tycoon Stanley Ho, and other companies such as WOW!Macau, want to tap increasing travel to Macau as the city's casinos expand and attract more tourists.

Shun Tak, based in Hong Kong, was in talks with Air Macau and Virgin Blue about setting up a budget carrier in Macau, said Shun Tak managing director Pansy Ho. Air Macau had applied to the city's government to set up the new carrier, she said.

Macau, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1999, had a record 16.7 million tourists last year, 57 per cent of them from mainland China.

The local government ended Stanley Ho's 42-year casino monopoly in Macau in 2002, granting licences to Las Vegas gaming billionaires Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn.

WOW, the first budget airline to be based in Macau, might begin flying to cities in Asia, Europe and North America by the end of this year, chief executive Andrew Pyne said last week.

Golden Dragon, a company that plans to fly to secondary cities in mainland China, was also in talks with Air Macau, said John Chan, executive director of CAM-Macau International Airport.

Air Macau is 51 per cent-owned by China National Aviation, which also controls Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, the city's second-largest carrier.

China National Aviation's shares fell as much as 1.2 per cent and traded 0.6 per cent lower at $HK1.70 in Hong Kong.

They have gained 4.9 per cent this year while the benchmark Hang Seng index has dropped 6 per cent.

SeeMacau

April 20th, 2005, 08:41 AM

WOW!Macao, the second registered airline in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), is hopefully to take off in November, offering both low-cost and business-class seats at customers' choices.

According to sources with the ongoing 54th Annual Conference ofthe Pacific Asia Tourist Association (PATA) Tuesday, WOW!Macao's launch hinges on negotiations with Air Macao for a sub-concession agreement.

Air Macao with a majority of the stake owned by China's state-owned National Aviation Corp., has a 25-year concession for Macao's air transportation starting from 1995. Thus, any new carrier hasto compensate Air Macao for the use of its routes.

The Macao SAR government's latest intention to liberalize the aviation market has led to its nod to allow Air Macao to seek sub-concessions with new airline companies.

The core of the partnership talks between Air Macao and WOW!Macao lies in the compromising sum of payment for the sub-concession and the allocation of air routes. After the settlement of these issues, WOW!Macao, registered earlier this year, will need another four to five months making preparations for scheduling flights and booking planes.

Andrew J Pyne, chief executive of WOW!Macao, a former British Airways and Cathay Pacific executive, said that at the initial stage of operation, the company will rent two Boeing aircraft flying from Macao to the Philippines, Japan and South Korea.

Pyne said that the company plans to boast a fleet of 12 Boeing planes in three years with long-distance destinations to America, Australia, India, Africa and Europe.

The company with shareholders from China's Macao, Chinese Hong Kong, and Thailand, Australia and Italy is determined to establishitself as a real choice carrier offering cheap tickets to those who want them and more expensive ones for business class.

Pyne said he believed that Macao has a huge untapped potential with last year's visitor arrivals topping 16 million. However, theMacao International Airport only handled 6 million passengers and 170,000 tons of cargo in 2004, and Macao only has air links to 17 destinations, which are mainly in China's mainland, he said.

Attracted to Macao's huge potential, the Malaysia-based Air Asia opened the first low-cost route linking Macao with Bangkok last July. In March this year, Tiger Airways came in the second tooffer low fare to Singapore. Then, Thailand's NOK Airways has expressed its intention to launch its low-cost route linking Macaowith Bangkok in November.

SeeMacau

April 29th, 2005, 08:39 AM

From May 18, Air Macao will double its daily flights to Beijing, said Li Hua, general manager of northern China with the airline company, on Tuesday.

Li said since the establishment of Air Macao, it played an active role in transporting passengers across the Taiwan Straits. Some 70 percent of passenger come from Taiwan. So far there are 72weekly flights between Macao and Taipei, as well as 28 flights between Macao and Gaoxiong.

The new added flights will provide more convenience for the mainland individual travelers to Macao, said Wen Qihua, deputy director of Macao Tourism Bureau.

Since the mainland implemented "individual traveler" policy instead of "group traveler" policy in 2003, over 5.6 million mainland residents visited Macao.

Established in 1994, Air Macao now fly to Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, Haikou, Bangkok, Manila, Seoul and other cities. It has Asia's youngest aircraft fleet.

SeeMacau

May 8th, 2005, 05:06 AM

http://www.widnellosg.com/photos/Macau-Airport.jpg

612bv3

May 8th, 2005, 05:08 AM

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hkskyline

May 10th, 2005, 05:12 PM

Asian airlines place bets on Macao
Enclave is a natural hub but Chinese airports pose long-term threat
By JUSTINE LAU
9 May 2005
Financial Times

Low-cost carriers are making strong inroads into southern Asia. In Australia, Virgin Blue flies one in three domestic passengers. Malaysia's Air Asia accounts for roughly the same share of that country's domestic market and Singapore is building the region's first low-cost airport terminal.

But with the exception of Japan, the region's biggest aviation market, North Asia has remained reluctant to embrace the budget airline industry due to the slowness in deregulating the sector.

This is set to change. Although still keen to protect its three big airlines, China is slowly relaxing its rules to allow some carriers to offer discount domestic flights. In Hong Kong, the recently formed Oasis Airline is reportedly planning to launch low-cost, long-haul services by end of the year.

Industry executives and analysts say Macao, the former Portuguese colony that is already a destination for low-cost carriers including Air Asia and Singapore's Tiger Airways, is taking the lead and looks more likely to become a North Asian hub.

"Macao is a natural hub for low-cost carriers, with substantially lower costs than neighbouring Hong Kong and a highly incentivised environment for tourism development," says Ian Thomas, senior consultant for the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Macao's economy has been growing rapidly since last year, when foreign-owned casinos began operations. Tourist arrivals grew 40 per cent to 16.7m in 2004, or 36 times the enclave's population. Airport arrivals, however, remained low at 3.7m, partly because Air Macao, the monopoly carrier, has been under-utilising the city's 42 bilateral air service agreements.

The airline, awarded a 25-year exclusive operating licence in 1995, only flies to three countries other than China and Taiwan.

"We made a deliberate decision in June 2003 that Macao should become a low-cost hub. We are fully aware that things will have to change if we want to achieve this," says John Chan, executive director of Macao International Airport.

To this end, Air Macao, 51 per cent owned by mainland state-controlled China National Aviation Corporation, has been in talks with three carriers on sub-concession agreements.

Mr Chan expects Virgin Blue to be the first airline to strike a deal with the home carrier by end of the year while start-ups WOW! Macao and Golden Dragon are likely to win similar rights in the next 12 months.

After that, Mr Chan expects the number of budget flights in Macao to rise from about 5 per cent of the total now to as much as 15 per cent in two years.

Macao airport, which likes to compare itself with London's Stansted airport, will then serve as a cheaper entry point to the Pearl River Delta, or PRD - the southern Chinese industrial region around Hong Kong.

Landing fees in Macau are about 30 to 35 per cent lower than those of Hong Kong, Mr Chan says. Hong Kong, in turn, is about 30 per cent cheaper than Chinese airports, according to the International Air Transport Association.

But Macao is not without its own challenges.

The 10-year-old airport is set to reach its passenger capacity of 6m in three years, according to Simon Chan, acting president of the Civil Aviation Authority.

Although it is currently building five new cargo parking stands, the airport has not yet finalised a proposal to expand its passenger capacity.

The other challenge is Macao's small home market. More than half of the 3.7m people who used the Macao airport last year were transit passengers travelling between Taiwan and China. The bulk of its tourists come from China and Hong Kong by bus or ferry.

The airport, therefore, is heavily exposed to competition for passengers with its bigger and - some argue - more efficient rivals in the PRD. Besides, some budget carriers are already bypassing Hong Kong and Macao and flying to China direct, although they are unlikely to gain access to premier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing in the near future.

Macao's supporters are optimistic.

If the enclave's casino industry continues its breakneck growth, many believe Macao, which aims to become Asia's Las Vegas, will emerge as a significant destination for tourists worldwide.

Sheldon Adelson, owner of Las Vegas Sands, which is building a USDollars 12bn casino project in the city, has forecast that 35m to 40m people will be visiting Macao annually in seven to 10 years.

SeeMacau

May 12th, 2005, 03:30 PM

VIRGIN Blue has abandoned its high-profile attempt to start a joint venture airline in Macau, as it turns its international focus on a potential trans-Pacific airline.

Virgin terminated the long-running Macau talks on Friday, after it was unable to reach an agreement with potential partners about starting a low-cost operation from the fast-growing gambling destination.

It is understood the decision was made by Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey. Virgin Blue spokeswoman Heather Jeffery last night confirmed reports that the Macau talks had ended. "Yes, it is the case that we've formally concluded our discussions," she said.

"Suffice to say, it didn't meet the requirement of all parties at this point in time."

Virgin had hoped to form a low-cost airline with incumbent carrier Air Macau, China National Aviation Corp and Shun Tak Holdings, controlled by casino tycoon Stanley Ho.

In 1995 Air Macau was granted a 25-year exclusive operating licence but the undercapitalised carrier was only servicing nine of the 31 Chinese cities to which it has rights to fly.

The joint venture airline aimed to boost services and feed the territory's booming casino industry with gamblers.Virgin Blue had been locked in talks for months when low-cost carrier WOW announced in April it would start services in Macau, and another company, Golden Dragon, also started talks with Air Macau.

Virgin's decision to pull out of Macau comes as the airline confirmed it had submitted documents to the Australian Department of Transport outlining proposals for a trans-Pacific airline. Ms Jeffery would not comment on the substance of the airline's proposal but confirmed it had lodged a document outlining its thoughts on the route.

"We have had discussions and we'll be presenting more of our position in time," she said.It is understood the airline is lobbying the Government to delay Singapore Airline's entry into the market until it can develop its own plans to fly across the Pacific.

It reportedly argued that it needed at least a year to 18 months to develop its international model and Singapore's entry during this time would damage both its international ambitions and domestic assets.

Cabinet discussed the issue briefly this week and is expected to return to it next month.The entry of Virgin chairman Chris Corrigan into the debate will be setting off alarm bells in Singapore, which now finds itself battling both Australian domestic carriers.

SeeMacau

May 14th, 2005, 06:24 AM

Shun Tak Holdings, flagship company of gaming mogul Stanley Ho, said yesterday Virgin had pulled out of the plan.

It added the plan was still being "actively" discussed with Air Macau, currently the only airline based on the island.

The two companies have been exploring the possibility of operating low-cost air services from Macau to serve the booming mainland China market since late last year.

Shortly before Virgin Blue Holding Ltd's decision to shelve its Macau plans became known, the company said it had submitted documents to the Australian government outlining proposals for a trans-Pacific airline.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony that reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1999, draws thousands of gamblers from mainland China and Hong Kong, just 64km to the east.

Its government has been taking measures to liberalise and boost competition in its tourism-dependent economy after it ended a four-decade monopoly held by Hong Kong tycoon Stanley Ho on its gambling industry in 2002.

SeeMacau

May 19th, 2005, 11:03 AM

MACAO, May 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The Macao-based Air Macau on Wednesday operated its second daily flight on the route from Macao to Beijing.

To mark the opening of the fresh flight, merchant prizes as free tickets, digital cameras and mobile phones are offered to passengers who get thewin-cards from Air Macau's web-page, said the company.

Air Macau has reinforced its 12-strong air craft squad by purchasing a new A321 air bus, making the total 13, it said.

The air company is to open the third daily flight between Macaoand Beijing early in 2006, it said.

SeeMacau

May 19th, 2005, 11:13 AM

1.Air Macau inaugurates its second daily flight between Macau and Peking and increases its daily service between Macau and Taipei on 18 May 2005 following the acquisition of another Airbus A321. The blessing ceremony was held in Hangar, Macau International Airport, at 9:00 am on 18th May, 2005. This arrangement further enhances the carrier’s one-plane service between Taipei and Beijing.

2.Effective from 18 May, NX521 will depart daily from Taipei at 17:00 and arrive in Macau at 18:50, the flight number of the plane will then change to NX008, which will depart Macau at 19:35 and arrive into Peking at 22:45.

3.Returning from Peking in the following day, the plane will depart Peking on NX 007 at 10:00 and arrive in Macau at 13:25 and then bound for Taipei with a flight number of NX 522, which is to depart Macau at 14:15 and arrive Taipei at 16:00.

4. To celebrate the inauguration of the second daily services between Macau and Peking, the carrier offers passengers traveling between 18 May and 30 June:
1,000 bonus miles each time they travel on NX008/NX007Lucky draw with grand prizes to be offered to eligible FIT passengers, who successfully register their travel on NX008/NX007 at Air Macau’s website: www.airmacau.com.mo. The lucky draw will take place in early July and names of the winners will be announced in Air Macau’s website.A prize will be given to each eligible passenger, who is successful in registering his travel at the carrier’s website.

5.With the acquisition of the other Airbus 321, Air Macau’s passenger fleet is now strengthened to 13 aircraft – Airbus 321 X 7, Airbus 320 X 1 and Airbus 319 X 5

6.The carrier is planning to inaugurate its third daily flight between Macau and Beijing at the beginning of 2006.

SeeMacau

June 3rd, 2005, 03:16 AM

China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region signed an agreement here Tuesday to build up a "sister airports" relationship.

The signing was officiated by Deng Jun, chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Macao International Airport Company Limited, and Dong Zhiyi, general manager of Inner Mongolia Civil Airport Group Company.

Deng Jun said while addressing the signing ceremony that Macao and Inner Mongolia are to seek "a long-term cooperation relationship" in aviation industry to overcome the highly competitive market environment facing both sides.

Dong Zhiyi told the gathering that the sealing of the sister airports deal will hopefully bring benefits to the development of aviation businesses of the two regions.

Some 960,000 passengers and 46,000 tons of airfreight were handled at Macao International Airport in the first quarter of 2005, representing a 24.7-percent and 16.8-percent growth, respectively, over the same period of last year, according to Deng.

Meanwhile, nine airports in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have connects with over 28 cities in and outside China, said Dong.

The sisterhood cooperation will cover the fields of training, marketing development, management cooperation, passenger and cargorelated business.

Edmund Ho Hau Wa, chief executive of the SAR, and Yang Jing, chairman of the government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, attended the signing ceremony.

SeeMacau

June 6th, 2005, 04:34 AM

Air Macau, the only air company in the Macao Special Administrative Region of China, saw a record high of over 170,000 passengers flow in May.

The total passenger turn-out of was 170,551 in May, breaking record in the company's decade-long operation history, according to statistics issued by Air Macau on Sunday.

The figures showed that the passenger turn-out has also witnessed a 26-percent increase in the first five months over the same period of 2004.

Air Macau has recently implemented a package of management policies as increasing international flight numbers to achieve a 14-month non-stop pay-off.

hkskyline

June 6th, 2005, 11:43 PM

Macau resumes budget carrier hunt
Investors being courted but authorities are ready to go it alone if necessary
Russell Barling
7 June 2005
South China Morning Post

Aviation authorities in Macau are again courting strategic investors for a low-cost carrier to replace the deal that collapsed last month when frustrated management at Virgin Blue walked away after 18 months of talks.

The authorities, including the Macau branch of the General Administration of Civil Aviation for China (CAAC Macau), are talking to executives and airlines from the low-cost industry to slot into the place vacated by Virgin Blue.

"[CAAC Macau officials] believe it is a project with good potential and they are determined to go ahead even if it means proceeding by themselves," said a Macau-based executive. "They have contacted some airlines, and some of them appear to be interested."

It is understood the latest courtship, successful or not, will have minimal impact on talks with Golden Dragon and Wow!Macau, two start-ups in talks with Air Macau for sub-concession licences to operate from Macau.

Golden Dragon, which had been targeting mainland destinations to serve with a fleet of 70-seat Embraer aircraft, has completed the negotiations for its sub-concession and requires only a formal signing, according to sources close to the company.

Wow!Macau chief executive Andrew Pyne, who has been pushing for regional and medium-haul destinations in Europe and the Middle East, said negotiations with his company were also progressing well.

"There may be some regional points that we will be disappointed on because of the new [low-cost carrier] development, but we'll take the rough and smooth," Mr Pyne said yesterday. "The main thing is that we end up with a working network and something that makes sense."

Mr Pyne would not say which regional destinations had been taken off the table during the talks. But with Air Macau flying to or having aspirations for Seoul, Singapore, Manila and Bangkok, the possibility of approval for those cities is thought to be remote.

It is understood Virgin Blue walked away last month after Air Macau, majority owned by China National Aviation Corp, waited until the 11th hour to pull Hangzhou and Taiwan from its destination list. Budget heavyweights Ryanair and Air Asia are also thought to have failed to work out a deal with the Macau negotiating team.

Mr Pyne said he was prepared to co-exist with a new low-cost carrier, which will probably be 51 per cent owned by Air Macau. "We know we can't go into Macau and encroach on Air Macau's patch," he said.

An expected flood of gamblers and tourists to Macau over the next few years prompted the government to order Air Macau to surrender its exclusive concession. The airport handled 960,000 passengers in the first quarter, up a comparative 24.7 per cent.

"It looks crowded with four home carriers but, to a certain extent, we're clear of that entanglement because we are still focused on the longer sectors that for technical reasons are beyond the reach of the others," Mr Pyne said. "There will be quite a tangle on the two to three-hour sectors, but I think we are a little further afield and that is the strength of our business plan."

hkskyline

June 17th, 2005, 06:55 PM

Golden Dragon wins flights deal
Alman Loong, Hong Kong Standard
June 16, 2005

Golden Dragon, one of three start-up airlines in Macau, has won regulatory approval to fly to 10 destinations, after agreeing with the Macau government to largely avoid routes offered by Air Macau's new budget airline and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines.

Golden Dragon received rights to fly to mainland cities Nanning, Shijiazhuang, Nanchung, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Changsha, Guangzhou and Hohhot, as well as Hanoi in Vietnam and Vientiane in Laos, said an industry source.

The approvals came after it reached a sub-concession license agreement with Air Macau to operate from the city. Sources earlier said tycoon Stanley Ho's helicopter unit, East Asia Airlines, will take a majority stake in Golden Dragon after the sub-concession talks.

"Golden Dragon only has three destinations overlapping with Dragonair's existing ones, reflecting the government's arrangements during the negotiations," said the source.

Dragonair and Air Macau are controlled by China National Aviation Corp. Golden Dragon's approved destinations also largely avoid competition with Hong Kong Express, a Hong Kong-based budget airline also controlled by Ho, which has been granted rights to fly to Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chongqing and Ningbo.

"Both companies will not complete with each other," said Hong Kong Express chief executive Andrew Tse.

Golden Dragon will need to invest 160 million patacas (HK$155.3 million) to develop the business and pay 10 percent of total investment to the Macau government for the license. It will lease two 75-seat Embraer aircraft this year and plans to schedule flights next year, said the source. "Golden Dragon will act as a regional airline in the future, not a low-cost carrier," he said.

Macau is an attractive base for budget carriers because of its low airport charges and the rosy outlook for its gaming-led tourism sector.

Air Macau along with two partners plans to start a budget airline at the end of the year in which it will invest US$30 million (HK$234 million) for a 51 percent stake. The new carrier will fly 22 mainland and regional routes with four aircraft to be delivered next year. Wow Macau, another start-up in talks with Air Macau for sub-concession licenses, has been pushing for medium-haul destinations in Europe and the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based budget carrier Oasis Hong Kong Airlines has applied to the Air Transport Licensing Authority for six destinations - London Gatwick, Cologne/Bonn, Berlin, Milan, Oakland and Chicago.

However, the Civil Aviation Department said it has not yet granted it an air operator's certificate.

hkskyline

June 18th, 2005, 09:29 PM

Macau eyes Zhuhai airport for growth
Zach Coleman
17 June 2005
Hong Kong Standard

Macau could emerge as the dark-horse winner among the prospective suitors of troubled Zhuhai Airport.

Hong Kong International Airport has been keen to link up with Zhuhai on concern that airports in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are diverting mainland- bound or originating traffic that would have previously come to Hong Kong. Partnering with Zhuhai could give Hong Kong a route to recapture profit from this development.

Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport is also reportedly eyeing Zhuhai.

Macau, however, might be the most logical partner for Zhuhai. Only Macau is a neighbor of Zhuhai and, where Macau is crowded and strapped for space, Zhuhai's vast undeveloped acreage is already attracting attention from Macau investors and officials seeking room to expand.

Zhuhai Airport, which has been losing money since its opening 10 years ago due to under-utilization, would fit into this pattern.

John Chan, executive director of Macau International Airport, said European consultants are currently drawing up a plan on how to meet the airport's needs for facilities in the next five years. He expects the consultants to recommend doubling the size of the airport's terminal and reclaiming land to move maintenance facilities to create more plane parking spaces.

Already, the airport is adding five parking stands and doubling its cargo terminal space. The current terminal can handle six million passengers a year.

Chan said he expects airport traffic this year to come close to a record 4.2 million passengers handled in 2002. Given plans afoot for new airlines and resorts in the territory, Chan said: "In 2007, I think we will cross six million.''

The airport has just one runway and the cost of building it in the waters of Macau's outer harbor accounted for much of the airport's HK$9.3 billion construction budget, said Chan.

Building a second runway at today's costs and starting from the greater depths further offshore would require a huge outlay.

Consequently, aviation officials are eyeing Zhuhai's runway as an expansion outlet, especially for domestic mainland traffic. Chan said many visitors from northern China are already flying to Guangzhou and Shenzhen and proceeding to Macau by bus or ferry. With coordination, these passengers could be channeled via Zhuhai.

The two airports have held several rounds of talks, and Chan said he believes Zhuhai will have to make a decision among its suitors soon.

Andrew Miller, director of consulting for the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in Sydney, said support from Macau airport management could help turn around Zhuhai's fortunes. The center chose Macau as its airport of the year in 2004. "They're entrepreneurial, they're on the ball,'' Miller said.

SeeMacau

June 22nd, 2005, 05:25 AM

As it nears its 10th anniversary, Air Macau has appointed World Aviation Systems as General Sales Agent for passenger sales in Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.

The appointment also covers five Pacific destinations - Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Noumea and Tahiti.

Air Macau (IATA code NX) operates frequent jet services between Macau and 15 Chinese and regional international destinations.

The majority of the airline’s business is corporate traffic across the Taiwan Strait, on the Macau-Taipei and Macau-Kaohsiung routes.

The airline also flies to 10 destinations in China - Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, Haikou, Kunming, Shenzen, Chengdu, Nanjing, Ningbo and Xiamen, as well as to Singapore, Bangkok, Manila and Seoul.

Air Macau operates a fleet of 13 dual class Airbus twinjets - seven A321s, five A319s and one A320.

It is increasing service on key routes to accommodate strong growth in tourism and trade to Macau.

With the recent acquisition of its seventh A321, the airline has just added a second daily Macau-Beijing flight, and announced plans for a third daily service on the route from early 2006.

SeeMacau

July 1st, 2005, 09:52 AM

Air Macau plans to strike out to new markets in an aggressive response to the wave of competitors invading its home turf.

Brian Chien, senior manager for e-commerce and loyalty programs, told a Macau tourism forum Air Macau will shortly buy its first wide-body passenger jets, launch long-haul cargo flights and add new routes to Northeast Asia.

Air Macau earned 71.4 million patacas (HK$69.3 million) last year, reversing a 145.6 million loss the year before due to the effects of SARS. Revenue climbed almost 50 percent to 2.1 billion patacas. But 2004 also saw the arrival of discount airlines in Macau. AirAsia launched flights to the territory from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Tiger Airways joined the fight this year with flights from Singapore and is expected to soon announce flights from Macapagal International Airport near Manila. Nok Air is preparing to fly from Bangkok soon too.

Air Macau, which operates under a 25-year government concession as the territory's exclusive home carrier, last month agreed to share its rights with Golden Dragon, a start-up carrier that plans to operate regional jet flights to the mainland. A second start-up, Wow Macau, aims to finalize a subconcession agreement with Air Macau this month to allow it to serve medium- and long-haul routes.

Under this competitive pressure, Air Macau has given up its own services to Singapore and Bangkok, abandoning a strategy of using Southeast Asian routes to diversify from its precarious core business of carrying Taiwanese to and from the mainland.

The new plan is to look north. Air Macau began daily charter flights from Seoul in December. On Monday, the carrier will start a twice-weekly, summer-season charter flight from Pusan, South Korea. The Korean traffic will feed into a twice-weekly seasonal charter to Siem Reap, Cambodia, relaunched last Monday

Chien said Air Macau will fly twice a week from Kwangju, South Korea, next year. South Korean visitor numbers rose 130 percent in Macau in the first five months of this year.

The next target will be Japan. Chien said Air Macau will begin scheduled charter service to Tokyo next year. It operated charter flights to Takamatsu and Okayama in Japan earlier this year.

Chien said Air Macau will also begin daily service to the mainland cities of Hangzhou, Nanjing and Chengdu next year. The carrier doesn't presently serve Hangzhou, but flies to Nanjing and Chengdu three and four days a week, respectively.

Air Macau will acquire two Airbus A300-600R jets next year to operate the Tokyo flights as well as those to Shanghai and Taipei.

The jets will be the biggest and longest-range passenger aircraft in Air Macau's fleet, but even its mainstay planes are getting bigger. Chien said the airline will get rid of its remaining five A319 jets and one A320, bringing in seven A321s in their stead next year and three more the following year.

Air Macau is moving to even bigger planes for cargo. Chien said Air Macau will add one Boeing 747 jumbo a year until 2007. It will use the new planes to expand routes this year beyond Taiwan and the mainland to Los Angeles and Ho Chi Minh City. Another new route will land in Guangzhou, then next year, flights will go to New York, New Delhi and Frankfurt, he said.

Chien said Air Macau expects to achieve annual passenger growth of more than 10 percent through 2008. In February, the carrier launched a new frequent-flier program, which enlisted 33,000 members in three months.

SeeMacau

July 12th, 2005, 11:01 AM

Air Macao recorded 174,956 passengers in June, a year-on-year increase of 17 percent, the Sino-Portuguese jointly operated airline announced in a statement on Monday.

The total cargo movement reached 9,915 metric tones in the month, a 28.2 percent rise over the same period of last year, according to the statement.

The airline also said that it, in a bid to boost the passenger flow, will operate a number of charter flights during the summer holidays, covering flights to Pusan in South Korea, Siem Reap in Cambodia and Tokyo.

The airline, which is to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its flight services in November, will also run special package for families and students during the holiday period, according to the statement.

SeeMacau

July 18th, 2005, 10:31 AM

MACAO, July 18 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 39 flights between China's Taiwan and Macao will be canceled Monday due to the typhoon Haitang, which is forecast to be the most powerful storm to hit Taiwan in five years.

Staff on duty at Macao International Airport told Xinhua through telephone that most of flights by Air Macao, Eva Airways and TransAsia to and from Taiwan will have to be canceled over the typhoon concern.

Air Macao also announced in Taibei that it would cancel all its flights Monday, according to local media reports.

Air Macao and Macao International Airport both opened the hotline telephone numbers through media for passengers to check needed information.

Macao operates daily passenger flights to and from cities of Taibei and Gaoxiong in Taiwan.

SeeMacau

July 19th, 2005, 05:26 AM

BEIJING, July 19 -- Macao airport reports that about 39 flights between Taiwan and Macao will be cancelled as typhoon Haitang sweeps trough the island.

Staff on duty at Macao International Airport says that most of the flights by Air Macao, Eva Airways and TransAsia to and from Taiwan will be cancelled because of the typhoon.

Air Macao and Macao International Airport have both opened hotline telephone numbers for passengers to check for latest information.

Macao operates daily passenger flights to and from the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)

SeeMacau

July 25th, 2005, 04:18 AM

Tiger Airways, a Singapore-based low cost airline, is offering seats on its new Manila (Clark) – Macau flight services from just 188 MOP (Sin$39.98 or 1318 Pesos) for one way travel excluding taxes and fees.

Tiger Airways launches daily flights between Macau and Manila (Clark) from 30 October 2005. Flight TR777 leaves Macau at 13:55 arriving in Manila at 15:55. The return leg, flight TR778, departs Manila at 15:40 for a 17:40 arrival in Macau.

The service is expected to be a boon to tourists and the many Overseas Filipino Workers based in Macau and Hong Kong.

“We are pleased to offer our first flight service out of Singapore with direct services between Macau and Manila (Clark). We are delighted to offer our low fares for this popular route and look forward to good response from our customers. At the same time, the route allows us to utilize our aircrafts more efficiently which helps us keep costs low,” said Tony Davis, CEO of Tiger Airways.

SeeMacau

July 27th, 2005, 05:21 AM

2005-7-26 15:26:30 CRIENGLISH.com

Macao International Airport now ranked 82nd on the list of the world busiest airports in 2004 .

More than 220,000 tons of cargo passed through the airport last year, a major increase on 2003.

The figures come from the Airports Council International (ACI), the worldwide professional association of airport operators. It reviewed the world's 984 major airports in terms of volume of passengers and cargo as well as comparing the number of plane landings and taking-offs.

hkskyline

August 12th, 2005, 04:56 AM

Macau's skies set to get crowded as three new airlines take wing
12 August 2005
South China Morning Post

The dust appears to be settling on the airline shake-out in Macau, with three soon-to-be start-ups having carved out the niches they will serve - at least in principle.

Shun Tak Holdings managing director Pansy Ho Chiu-king is on the verge of getting a stake in an as-yet unnamed but nevertheless coveted low-cost carrier.

Shun Tak will share minority interests with Hong Kong-listed China National Aviation Co (CNAC).

Air Macau, which is majority held by CNAC Macau and which has been gracious enough - albeit with some state prodding - to surrender its monopoly in the city and negotiate sub-concessions with the newcomers, will receive 51 per cent.

According to people on the ground in Macau, Ms Ho's budget carrier has gained approval in principle to fly to 16 regional destinations, including cities in Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea and on the mainland.

The same source told Below Deck the airline already had a deal in place for six Boeing 737 aircraft.

Ms Ho, the source said, was expected to make an announcement about the airline - and its closely guarded name - in a matter of days.

An executive who works for one of the shareholding companies was more cautious.

"We are about to submit all the legal documents and the sub-concession to the government," he said.

"Until the government approves, we cannot announce other details. It is no secret that the low-cost carrier will be a subsidiary of Air Macau. But no final decision has been made on the number or type of aircraft."

There had been speculation that the airline would favour A320 aircraft to capitalise on the benefits of sharing a common fleet with its majority shareholder; Air Macau has eight A320 family aircraft.

However, the executive did acknowledge that an agreement in principle had been reached with Air Macau on a route network.

That was all it took last week for Golden Dragon Airlines, the new airline controlled by Ms Ho's father, casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun, to trumpet its arrival. So we could be hearing from Ms Ho's entourage soon.

None of the three Macau start-ups have signed a sub-concession agreement yet.

It is understood that a deal with the third new entrant, Wow!Macau, will be reached after Ms Ho's venture gets the requisite attention with its pending launch.

According to the source, Golden Dragon and Wow!Macau, which has been approved in principle by Air Macau's executive committee to serve destinations outside a four-hour flight zone, have agreed to a 10 per cent capital levy as a condition of their sub-concessions.

None of the contracts have received the government's stamp of approval, so it all remains up in the air.

But one would think that officialdom would be amenable to most arrangements, given Macau's acute need for more flights than its airline can offer.

Macau's Cotai strip is expected to see a sixfold increase in the number of hotel rooms on offer in the next five years to 70,000.

Most of the rooms will be high-end and will require a different mix of clientele than those who now frequent Macau. At present, the average length of stay for a Macau visitor is 1.3 days, compared with 3.7 days in Las Vegas, the city it aspires to emulate.

Only 6 per cent of visitors to Macau arrive by air, against 50 per cent in Vegas.

Macau needs to liberalise its aviation regime to attract a higher calibre of visitor.

As the monopoly carrier for the city, Air Macau utilises only 25 per cent of its 42 air service agreements with other countries.

A dose of competition will be just what the doctor ordered to awaken the sleepy enclave.

China, of course, is the market with the most potential visitors. With Ms Ho's airline apparently destined to compete on some of the eight mainland routes recently awarded in principle to Golden Dragon, there is even the prospect of market-regulated ticket prices. They are targeting different markets - Golden Dragon is more a premium economy provider with its 76-seat Embraer aircraft, however, there should be some overlap.

Wow!Macau, on the other hand, looks well positioned for the longer-haul market.

"It looks initially to be a crowded environment with four carriers," Wow!Macau chief executive Andrew Pyne told Below Deck last month.

"There could be quite a tangle in terms of the two- to three-hour short sectors. But I think we're a little further afield and that is one of the strengths of our business plan."

hkskyline

August 16th, 2005, 06:44 AM

Shun Tak to take stake in Macau low-cost airline-paper

HONG KONG, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Shun Tak Holdings , the property and entertainment group controlled by casino magnate Stanley Ho, will take up to a 30 percent stake in Air Macau's planned US$30 million low-cost carrier, the Standard newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Air Macau Co. Ltd. will control a 51 percent stake in the venture and its parent China National Aviation Co. (CNAC) will hold the rest, the paper said, quoting unidentified sources.

Shun Tak has already signed an agreement that Air Macau and CNAC will hold the majority stake in the low cost carrier, the paper said.

Air Macau will also transfer 22 routes to the new carrier, including 11 routes to mainland China and the rest to cities in the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam, it said.

The venture is the third airline scheduled to start operation in 2006 since Macau's government cut short Air Macau's monopoly two years ago.

Shares in Shun Tak ended on Monday at HK$7.

The stock had gained 2 percent in the last month but is up 81 percent in the last year as investors bet on strong growth prospects for Macau's gaming and tourist industries.

The tiny territory is the only place in gambling-mad China where casinos are legal and companies from around the world are pouring in billions of dollars to build more opulent gaming parlours, plush hotels and shopping malls.

CNAC owns a 43 percent of Hong Kong carrier Dragonair and 51 percent of Air Macau.

SeeMacau

August 26th, 2005, 08:59 AM

MACAU - Taiwan passengers made up the bulk of total arrivals at the Macau International Airport in July, as the airport braces for more and more visitors from around the world with the opening of new routes, airport authorities said August 23.

The airport received a single-month record high of 416,131 arrivals in July, 59% of which were travelers from Taiwan, airport authorities said. For the first seven months of this year, the airport registered 2.46 million arrivals, up by 23% year on year. It is estimated that the airport will see 4.2 million arrivals for the whole of this year. Routes between Macau and China provided the second-largest number of passenger arrivals, while those from Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea followed, in that order.

With Macau well positioned as a preferred entry point to China and the Asia-Pacific region, the 24-hour Macau International Airport is an attractive alternative for the region's increasing airfreight traffic, allowing easy access to numerous destinations in China and other countries, airport authorities said.

(Asia Pulse/CNA)

SeeMacau

September 1st, 2005, 02:33 PM

Air Macao's flights from cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan to Macao were all canceled on Thursday due to the typhoon Talim, which is rocking the Chinese island province.

Staff on duty at Macao International Airport told Xinhua through telephone that Air Macao's flights taking off from Macao to the two cities in Taiwan will also "possibly" be delayed over the typhoon concern.

Air Macao and Macao International Airport both opened hotline telephone numbers through media for passengers to check needed information.

Macao operates daily passenger flights to and from cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Source: Xinhua

SeeMacau

September 8th, 2005, 08:16 AM

MACAO, Sept. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- "The Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Symposium-- Macao 2005" was held here Thursday at the Macao Tower, a multi-functional convention center.

Representatives from 24 international airports and low-cost airlines including Air Asia and Tiger Airways attended the symposium, co-hosted by the Institute of Macao Civil Aviation and Macao International Airport Company Ltd.

Chui Sai Cheong, president of the Institute of Macao Civil Aviation, told the opening ceremony that low fares, high efficiency and safety awareness are in the characteristics of LCC operations.

He said the symposium will offer an opportunity for the delegates to share the management and service experience.

The topics for discussion in the symposium covered the LCC basics, LCCs in the region and the impact of the LCC industry.

SeeMacau

September 16th, 2005, 09:44 AM

China's Macao Special Administrative Region and Israel have signed an Air Service Agreement on opening air services in the near future.

A press release issued by Macao's Information Bureau said representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao and the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel clinched the deal at the conclusion of a two-day meeting Thursday.

The press release described the discussions as being held "in a friendly and cordial atmosphere."

Macao has sealed air services agreements with 43 countries and regions, according to the press release.

Source: Xinhua

SeeMacau

September 17th, 2005, 05:08 AM

A Hong Kong-registered CR Airways jet was involved in an incident at the Macau International Airport this afternoon, the Civil Aviation Department says.

While the aircraft was holding near Runway 34 at about 1:28pm, its tailplane was slightly damaged by the left wing of a taxiing Boeing 747 aircraft. No one was injured.

The aircraft was conducting aircrew base training with four flight crew members on board and no passengers.

According to international practice, Macau's Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the incident. Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department will provide any assistance needed.

SeeMacau

September 17th, 2005, 05:11 AM

HONG KONG, Sept. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department (CAD) said that the tail of a Hong Kong-registered aircraft was slightly damaged by a wing of a taxing Boeing 747 aircraft while it was holding near Runway 34 at Macao International Airport at 1:28 p.m. (0528 GMT) on Friday.

No injuries have been reported, the CAD said.

It said, the CRJ700 aircraft of CR Airways which was conducting aircrew base training at Macao with four flight crew members on board and no passengers.

According to international practice, the incident is being investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao and the CAD will provide necessary assistance.

SeeMacau

September 21st, 2005, 04:41 AM

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Philippine Airlines Ltd. (PAI.YY) won't wait long to compete with regional low cost carriers Tiger Airways and AirAsia Bhd. (5099.KU) on their proposed Macau-Manila flights, analysts say.

They say with the entry of the LCCs, an estimated 200,000 passengers will fly the route every year in the near future, and the Philippine state carrier will do whatever it takes not to be left out.

"There's strong potential for increased travel not only from tourists between Macau and Manila but also from the thousands of overseas Filipino workers based in Macau and Hong Kong," an analyst with a regional brokerage said.

Both Tiger Airways, the low-cost affiliate of Singapore Airlines Ltd. (S55.SG), and Malaysia-based AirAsia plan to start flying the Macau-Manila route from Oct. 30.

PAL currently offers code-share flights using Air Macau's aircraft three times a week, but the entry of the low cost carriers will likely push it to fly its own planes as it's the favored carrier of Filipino overseas workers around the world.

"We may need to review our stand if and when we decide to operate on that sector," a PAL spokesman said.

Tiger Chief Executive Tony Davis expects his airline to carry more than 100,000 passengers a year between the two points when its flights are in full swing.

AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes declined to comment on the potential of the route.

Meeting the challenge from the LCCs won't be easy for PAL, said Andrew Miller, chief executive of Sydney-based Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation.

"The cost of a plane seat for a full service airline is about 2-3 times that for a LCC and you need a minimum of one flight a day to make it worthwhile for a full service airline," Miller said.

"Operating 2-3 flights a day will be better," he added.

Tiger has already filed the necessary documents and flying the route "is clearly in the public interest and will have a significant positive impact on the further development of Clark as an important regional aviation hub," Davis said.

Tiger already serves both Macapagal International Airport - the former Clark International Airport near Manila - and Macau from Singapore.

PAL appears to have accepted competition from LCCs, but for now, it appears confident of its own attraction to travelers through the Air Macau flights.

"Most of the LCCs operate out of Clark Field airport in Pampanga, which is over two hours away by shuttle bus from Manila. This is great if the passenger resides in that area, but if he is based in Manila, it's inconvenient," the PAL spokesman said.

"Only a limited number of seats on the LCC flights are allotted for the super-low fare category. The bulk of the seats are sold at higher fares, which, while still lower than fares of full-service airlines, may not be attractive enough to convince Manila-based passengers to shuttle all the way to Clark Field," he added.

In late 2004, when Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long announced the approval of LCCs coming in through Clark Field, PAL warned that this would cripple the aviation industry and displace scores of workers.

ViVoN

September 25th, 2005, 01:18 AM

:jk: :jk:

SeeMacau

October 19th, 2005, 12:33 PM

THAI AIRASIA, A UNIT OF THE REGION'S most prominent budget carrier AirAsia Berhad of Malaysia, will start its Clark-Macau-Bangkok flights by the end of November after securing a provisional permit from the Civil Aeronautics Board last Friday.

CAB executive director Tomas Mañalac said the board had given Thai AirAsia a 30-day authority to fly the route. The permit is valid up to Nov. 15.

Thai AirAsia plans to sell one-way Clark-Macau tickets for as low as P1,500 and one-way Clark-Macau-Bangkok tickets for as low as P3,700. Cheap fares of budget carriers are very limited and are usually available only to those who would book their flights three months in advance.

Maalac said Tiger Airways Ltd., a low-cost carrier from Singapore, had not been given the go-ahead as there were still outstanding issues on its application for a Clark-Macau-Clark route.

Tiger Airways' application is classified as seventh freedom among aviation rights and is not allowed even under a regular bilateral deal. Thai AirAsia's route falls under the fifth freedom right, which is permitted in some bilateral deals.

Philippine Airlines, Cebu Air Pacific and Air Philippines Corp. have opposed the excessive aviation rights that the two low-cost carriers were seeking.

Thai AirAsia legal counsel Anna Paner said the low-cost carrier was originally scheduled to launch its flight to Clark last Oct. 15. But the maiden flight had to be moved most likely to the last week of November due to delays in securing the permit.

"We may have to ask for an extension of the provisional authority if we don't get the permanent approval before Nov. 15," Paner said.

CAB hearing officer Fred Villarin said his office would accept objections to the applications of Thai AirAsia and Tiger Airways until today.

PAL, the country's biggest carrier, is worried that the Macau stopover would cannibalize its Manila-Hong Kong route.

PAL president Jaime Bautista pointed out that most of the airlines in Clark were already operating outside of bilateral agreements forged by the Philippines with other governments.

Commercial aviation operations are governed by these bilateral deals, which specify routes, entitlements and frequencies that carriers from both countries could use. "They are already asking for fifth and seventh freedom when in fact, most of them are already flying outside what is allowed by existing bilateral deals," Bautista said in an interview.

He said PAL had already consented "for now" to the government's move last year to open up Clark to carriers even from countries like Singapore that have fully exhausted their air entitlements with the Philippines.

The Arroyo administration had fully deregulated cargo air rights in Clark since December 2003 and a year later, opened up the former military air base to passenger carriers to boost local tourism.

"Air agreements must be based on reciprocity. For now, PAL does not object to granting third and fourth freedom rights to carriers outside of bilateral deals. But fifth and seventh freedom is too much," Bautista said.

Flights of Thai AirAsia and the expansion of Tiger Airways are being counted on to almost double passenger traffic in Clark to 40,000 a month starting October from 22,000 a month.

hkskyline

October 26th, 2005, 03:15 PM

Thailand's Nok Air picks gambling enclave Macau as first foreign stop
AFP
October 26, 2005

Thai budget carrier Nok Air plans to expand into foreign markets in 2006 with the launch of services to Asia's casino capital Macau, a top company official said here Wednesday.

"Probably mid-year we are going to Macau. It will be the first foreign destination," Nok Air's chief executive Patee Sarasin told AFP on the sidelines of a regional aviation forum.

According to Patee, Thai AirAsia is the only budget airline servicing the Bangkok-Macau route, which means there is room for further growth. It is a subsidiary of Malaysia's discount carrier AirAsia.

Owned partly by flag carrier Thai Airways International, Nok Air was launched last year to tap growing demand for no-frills travel especially in key Southeast Asian economies like Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

It is the third budget airline in Thailand, where One-Two Go, owned by Orient Thai, is already in fierce competition with Thai AirAsia.

Nok Air currently flies to Chiangmai, Udon Thani, Hat Yai and Phuket.

Despite soaring fuel costs, Patee said the airline has been enjoying an "operating profit" since January and is expected to break even by the end of the year, but he gave no details.

Aside from Macau, Nok Air will also be looking to expand to other parts of Asia over the next few years but the carrier will not rush into any markets until its distribution network has been established properly, Patee said.

"So therefore in terms of moving into foreign destinations, we are going to be very, very careful in terms of how we are going to make sure that we understand the consumers over there as well," the chief executive said.

"And so therefore in terms of distribution of our tickets and so forth, it will have to fit that particular demand," he said.

Nok, which means "bird" in Thai, has adopted a playful theme by depicting a golden bird's beak on the nose of its purple and white aircraft.

SeeMacau

October 29th, 2005, 02:01 AM

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Singapore-based low cost carrier (LCC) Tiger Airways said Friday it has received approval from the Philippines authorities for its Macau-Manila flights.

The approval, from the Philippines Civil Aeronautics Board, means Tiger's flights can commence Sunday as scheduled.

Philippine Airlines Ltd. (PAI.YY), or PAL, last month said Tiger - an affiliate of Singapore Airlines (S55.SG) - violated rules by selling its Macau-to-Manila tickets before getting approval to fly the route.

In a separate statement, Tiger said it is ready to use the low cost terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport if given approval from the respective authorities to fly the Singapore-KL route.

"We are very keen to fly between Singapore and Malaysia and will definitely take up the offer from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. (5014.KU) to use the LCC terminal if we receive permission from the Malaysian aviation authorities to do so," Tiger Chief Executive Tony Davis said in the statement.

Davis was referring to news reports that MAHB Chief Executive Bashir Ahmad had invited all airlines that fall under the budget carrier category to use the new LCC terminal facility.

Tiger has been lobbying to fly the route as part of its efforts to widen its network.

It currently flies from Singapore to cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Macau, Philippines and Indonesia.

hkskyline

January 24th, 2006, 03:18 AM

Budget air carrier for Macau close to launch
24 January 2006
South China Morning Post

The long-awaited Macau-based budget airline is about to take off. A venture formed by Air Macau, China National Aviation Co (CNAC) and Shun Tak will be incorporated today and is planning to operate flights to about 20 cities in the mainland and the region.

It is understood that Air Macau, which is majority-held by CNAC will hold 51 per cent of the new venture, while Shun Tak, which is controlled by the casino tycoon Stanley Ho, will share the balance with CNAC.

An official from the Macau Civil Aviation Authority said there was plenty of room for the new venture to flex its muscles due to the low utilisation rate of Macau's traffic rights.

"Macau has rights to fly to more than 30 mainland cities but at present only nine are ulitilised [by Air Macau]," said an official from the Macau Civil Aviation Authority.

Air Macau has launched services to the major first-tier cities in the mainland where the high income tourists and gamblers come from, namely Shanghai, Beijing, Xiamen, Nanjing and Shenzhen.

That means the new carrier could fly only to the second-tier cities which Air Macau did not cover. Market talk ahead of the today's incorporation, however, was that Air Macau had reached a deal with the new venture which would allow the new carrier to fly to the existing points that Air Macau served after a quarantine period of three years.

Southeast Asian destinations, which remain under-developed markets for Macau airlines, are known to be another focus of the new venture.

"It could fly to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the major sources of tourists coming to Macau," the official said. Since Air Macau served only Seoul, Manila, Bangkok, Taipei and Kaohsiung in Asia, there was plenty of room for a newcomer, he added. Shun Tak's share price rose 3 per cent to $8.7 yesterday, against the trend of declining Hong Kong share prices. Shares of CNAC fell 4 per cent to $1.47 due to the leap in oil prices.

The negotiations between Air Macau and Shun Tak over the new budget airline began in earnest last summer after Virgin Blue withdrew from talks. Though it holds the concessions to run airlines in Macau till 2020, Air Macau has been forced to surrender its monopoly and negotiate sub-concessions with newcomers. In order to fulfil the requirement of the concessions, it also set up Viva Macau and Golden Dragon to tap into different market segments.

Sub concession agreements will now be signed after the new venture hands in all the details of the shareholders background, professional management and the financial plan of the company and gains approval from the Macau government. Viva Macau and Golden Dragon are still pending approval.

hkskyline

January 26th, 2006, 03:04 AM

Macau aims to double airport capacity
Operator awaits government approval for project designed to handle 12 million passengers annually
26 January 2006
South China Morning Post

Macau is planning to double the passenger capacity of its airport to handle the anticipated influx of international travellers as the city's investment boom boosts its reputation as a leisure destination, according to an official.

The project will expand the airport's capacity to about 12 million passengers a year and has been forwarded to the Macau government for evaluation, according to John Chan Wai-leong, an executive director of CAM Societe do Aeroporto Internacional de Macau, the company that owns a 50-year concession to operate the airport.

"The project is still in its planning stages and was forwarded last month to the government to sound them out about funding," Mr Chan said yesterday. "We expect to see more foreign carriers calling over the next few years and we need to grow."

Initial positive discussions had already been held with CAM shareholders, which include the Macau government, Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau and other minorities.

Mr Chan said he expected the approval process to take six to eight months, indicating building may start next year.

Construction would take about two years, he said, adding that it was too early to discuss capital costs.

Macau's tourist arrivals hit a record 4.27 million last year, up a comparative 14 per cent. Based on those growth levels, the present terminal, which was designed to handle six million passengers a year, will reach capacity in three years.

However, a study conducted this year for CAM by Netherlands Airports Consultants offered a more conservative forecast of 7 to 8 per cent growth over the next five years.

"A lot of our volume is still Taiwan, but we expect to see a lot more traffic from the Middle East and Europe, especially from charter operators that have come under pressure from the low-cost carrier boom," Mr Chan said.

However, he ruled out building the second terminal exclusively to cater to budget carriers, as Singapore has done.

"We are constrained by a lack of land," he said.

Macau's foreign investors have been pressing the government to ensure there are enough air links to bring the travellers and punters to their multibillion-dollar entertainment complexes.

The number of hotel rooms is expected to triple to 30,000 in the next four years, according to research by brokerage CLSA.

Two budget carriers to be based in Macau moved along their launch plans this week.

Macau Asia Express said it would start flying in the fourth quarter, while Viva Macau drew nearer to its June launch plans and a US$1.75 billion aircraft order with Boeing.

Both airlines have plans to operate fleets of about 20 aircraft, which will strain the airport's existing infrastructure in the longer term, especially its aircraft parking bays, which are already in short supply.

CAM, which has committed to extend the airport's runway and expand the cargo handling terminal, is also examining the possibility of filling in the water between its two taxiways to cater to interim aircraft parking needs.

Mr Chan said the airport's runway could handle aircraft movements sufficient to bring 25 million people a year to Macau, so another runway was not being planned.

hkth

May 19th, 2006, 09:08 AM

Xinhua News:
Air Macao to open routes to two mainland cities (http://news3.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/19/content_4571088.htm)

hkth

May 19th, 2006, 09:21 AM

The same news videos from the TDM (Teledifusao De Macau): :|
Cantonese News with Chinese Subtitles (mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/18/4b.asf)

Portuguese News (mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/port_news/18/3b.asf)

English News (Between 3:45-5:22) (mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/eng_news/18/e1b.asf)

SeeMacau

May 21st, 2006, 06:42 AM

direct flight to guangzhou? but guangzhou is so close to macau ..

hkth

May 21st, 2006, 10:57 AM

direct flight to guangzhou? but guangzhou is so close to macau ..

GZ also has filghts to HK too! ;) Those routes are for the connection between Mainland China and other parts of the world. :|

hkskyline

May 24th, 2006, 12:24 AM

Air Macau also flies to Shenzhen, which is even closer than going to Guangzhou.

Portugues

May 24th, 2006, 02:05 PM

Air Macau would be pretty nice company if the CEO wouldn't be so stuborn and useless.

unusualer

May 24th, 2006, 02:33 PM

hkth

May 24th, 2006, 05:39 PM

Air Macau also flies to Shenzhen, which is even closer than going to Guangzhou.

wat da?! it only takes a lil more than an hr to get to shenzhen by jetfoil. so we can fly to shenzhen in like wat? 5 mins?!

Actually this Air Macau route is for the Taiwan people to the Eastern part of the Pearl River Delta. There're many factories in Dongguan, where there is no international airport for this city. :|

ggaaxx

December 8th, 2006, 01:39 AM

Hopefully there will be more direct flights to Macau soon:)

From Macau Daily Blog (http://macaudailyblog.com/tourism/macau-to-start-airport-expansion-in-2007/)

This is going to be crucial to the success of the Cotai Strip, Macau so far has received over 20 million visitors this year. It is expected that this will double by the end of 2010, so that is 40 million visitors of which more than 25% are set to arrive by air. And I think it will be more than that as the Cotai Strip will get most of its visitors from outside Asia that will be attending conferences and exhibitions. I think that Sheldon Adelson is already concerned about Macau’s airport capacity and is pushing to operate ferries to Hong Kong Airport. Macau’s infrastructure expansion will be crucial to its success with the casino’s and tourism.
The government of Macau plans to move ahead in 2007 with work to expand the local international airport, which this year is expected to have traffic of 5 million passengers, close to the 6 million for which it was designed, officials said.

Speaking Tuesday to journalists, the secretary of state for Transport and Public Works, Ao Man Long, said that the expansion of the aircraft parking area was being considered as this is the priority for responding to increased traffic at Macau airport.

The area between the runway and the aircraft parking bay will be filled in order to create more parking areas and making room for the increased number of private flights using Macau’s airport.

As well as structural work on the airport, the Government will also build a new car and tourist bus park.

Macau’s International airport was built during the territory’s Portuguese administration and opened on December 8, 1995.

Portugues

December 8th, 2006, 01:58 AM

Sheldon Adelson had just bought 3 MD11 for private use! It's why he is concerned. Anyway he is not the King of Macau so if he is worry he can return to his lovely Las Vegas...

hkth

December 8th, 2006, 02:23 PM

Oh, man! There would be more congestions for the air traffic of the Pearl River Delta Region! :ohno:

Portugues

December 8th, 2006, 04:49 PM

Transport and Public Works Ao Man Long is out of the business. Let's what is going to happen now.

MCarr

December 11th, 2006, 08:22 PM

good news, I need lots a room for my private A380 :lol:
anyway its great to know that the traffic is growing at Macau's airport

Portugues

December 11th, 2006, 08:57 PM

anyway its great to know that the traffic is growing at Macau's airport
It was made for huge traffic.

By the way, dont you want to appear in portuguese forum mr MCarr?

SeeMacau

December 14th, 2006, 11:31 AM

hopefully after the expansion, the airport can handle the A380 by adding more spaces to park :)

ggaaxx

February 1st, 2007, 06:23 PM

The Macau International Airport will invest HKD 4 billion in a five-year expansion project.

The airport has invited the Dutch consultant NACO to develop a five-year development plan, of which 14 more aprons will be constructed, making a total of 38 aprons, to process 32 flights from 24 in an hour.

The passenger building will also be expanded to process at least 8 million passengers from 6 million per year.

A footbridge will also be constructed to connect the airport with the forthcoming Pac-On maritime terminal.

The airport pointed out that the project has been submitted for Government authorisation.

source (http://macau.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2007/2/1/2699552.html)

Portugues

February 2nd, 2007, 04:11 AM

The airport has invited the Dutch consultant NACO to develop a five-year development plan,

pffff

hkskyline

February 14th, 2007, 05:07 AM

Metis to launch Vancouver services
14 February 2007
South China Morning Post

Metis Transpacific Charter Airlines, a newly established Macau-based charter carrier, plans to launch non-stop flights from Macau to Vancouver in May with some seats available for as low as HK$888 for a one-way trip.

Founder Christopher Colbourne said the service, for which he is awaiting a licence, would have been launched from Hong Kong if the Civil Aviation Department had not turned down its application last year.

Stephen Kwok, the assistant director-general of the department, said: "We did receive an application for running the charter service by an airline but it withdrew its application later on."

Metis will launch a thrice-weekly service by leasing a 582-seat Boeing 747-400, which is expected to be delivered on April 28.

"Hong Kong-Vancouver is called the golden route alongside Hong Kong to London," Mr Colbourne said. "However, it is underserved, with just three daily flights operated by Cathay Pacific Airways and Air Canada."

He said the company had been assured it would get a licence from Macau soon.

Metis, which may be granted permission for charter flights over a longer period than one month if it teams with a local airline, is in advanced talks with one of the enclave's two carriers, Air Macau and Viva Macau.

It will apply for an air operator's certificate from Macau's Civil Aviation Department by the end of next year to operate scheduled flights.

"By that time, we will be in the same playing field as the major carriers today," Mr Colbourne said.

The special price for an economy-class ticket when the service launches will be HK$888 and a business-class trip costs HK$3,888, with 3 per cent of the seats available for the concession.

The price for the remaining seats was not yet available but would be competitive with existing carriers, he said.

Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department sent Metis' then partner, an American airline, which filed the charter service application for Metis, a letter of denial in October last year, saying there was no additional demand for passenger flights between Hong Kong and Vancouver, Mr Colbourne said. He declined to identify the American airline.

SeeMacau

February 22nd, 2007, 03:14 PM

^^ $888, thats very cheap indeed,

Hemingway

February 24th, 2007, 02:53 PM

888 is very low but with 580 seats I would think that they can afford to give up 3% at that price......the more interesting is the business class at 3888.....now that's a bargin.... I hope the service is as good as they say it will be..... I saw them mentioned on Bloomberg and they were saying that they wanted to be above the service of the other carriers......

Also it's non-stop at that price which makes all the difference.... no changing planes, no stops....just go.. I am really happy to see it...finally.

SeeMacau

March 16th, 2007, 03:41 AM

ggaaxx

March 16th, 2007, 09:31 PM

^^
maybe you should come back more often too:)

ggaaxx

March 20th, 2007, 07:02 PM

I guess that would make more people stay in Macau.

Passengers from Hong Kong who travel at Macau International Airport can now check in their luggage at the Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan directly.

They can now complete their flight check-in procedures at dedicated desks located at G02 of the Macau Ferry Terminal, and boarded on the ferry to Macau to go to the Macau airport to board on their flights directly without passing further passport and customs check.

Passengers wishing to use this service must go the the check-in desks 2 hours 45 minutes before their flights are due to take off.

source (http://macau.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2007/3/20/2819201.html)

SeeMacau

March 30th, 2007, 05:47 PM

its good news anyway, coz this can save passengers a bit of time

SeeMacau

March 30th, 2007, 06:11 PM

Sheldon Adelson had just bought 3 MD11 for private use! It's why he is concerned. Anyway he is not the King of Macau so if he is worry he can return to his lovely Las Vegas...

he will becomes the richest man in the world by the time of 2010, its quite amazing to see that he earns an average of $1m us dollar per hour, even at the time he was sleeping :D

SeeMacau

March 30th, 2007, 06:14 PM

Oh, man! There would be more congestions for the air traffic of the Pearl River Delta Region! :ohno:

I believe this is a good news, how can we expands more flights to other countries if the airport dont get to expand, we need to have more tourists from different countries for Macau to become more internationalise.

SeeMacau

March 30th, 2007, 06:15 PM

Transport and Public Works Ao Man Long is out of the business. Let's what is going to happen now.

We just wish that the new head of Transport and Public Works dont follows his footstep :D

hkskyline

July 29th, 2007, 07:19 AM

East Star flights to HK, Macau approved
19 July 2007
Hong Kong Standard

Hubei-based East Star Airlines has won approval from mainland aviation regulators to operate flights from Wuhan to Hong Kong and Macau starting in September, bringing the private carrier a step closer to its goal of servicing international destinations.

Currently, Hong Kong's Dragonair and Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines (1055) are the only airlines offering direct flights between Hong Kong and Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and most populated city in central China with more than nine million people.

Dragonair currently offers four flights a week between Hong Kong and Wuhan.

East Star told a mainland newspaper that it plans to operate one flight a day to Hong Kong and Macau, with one-way fares not exceeding 1,000 yuan (HK$1,034).

The Wuhan carrier will become the first private Chinese airline to fly to Hong Kong and Macau.

China currently has 10 private airlines, all flying domestic routes, excluding the two special administrative regions that were returned to Chinese sovereignty in the late 1990s.

The permission granted by mainland regulators is seen as part of efforts to loosen the country's strictly-controlled aviation sector, East Star said.

So far, state carriers, including the three largest airlines: China Southern, Beijing-based Air China (0753), and Shanghai's China Eastern Airlines (0670) have dominated international destinations, along with several domestic routes such as Shanghai and Beijing.

Meanwhile, the smaller private airlines in China face stringent restrictions in comparison to the government-backed carriers.

East Star, which currently serves cities including Shenzhen, Nanjing, Xian, Haikou and Hangzhou, said it aims at flying to all provincial capitals and will continue to expand overseas. It has also applied to operate flights to Singapore and Thailand.

Jim856796

August 28th, 2007, 06:11 AM

This expansion is still going ahead, right?

SeeMacau

August 31st, 2007, 09:12 AM

This expansion is still going ahead, right?

The expansion is on the way and the gov will allocates $10billion MOP for the airport further expansion

aseantraveler

October 24th, 2007, 07:49 PM

http://www.geocities.com/aseantraveler/macaukuching.jpg (http://www.airasia.com/site/ch/en/home.jsp)

3 flights weekly to Macau!
We rule Macau with 66 weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur , Kota Kinabalu, Johor Bahru, Bangkok and now Kuching!

=================================

http://www.geocities.com/klbloke/kucingmacau.jpg (http://www.airasia.com/site/my/en/home.jsp)

SeeMacau

October 30th, 2007, 08:37 AM

there should be a market for Macau to Penang flight, hopefully the airline can open this new route soon

ggaaxx

November 11th, 2007, 08:34 PM

A new airline company set up in Macau may not be up and running as scheduled as one of the investors decided to withdraw from the partnership.

The Macao Daily News reported that Air China may have withdrawn from the investment project of Macau Asia Express, a consortium between Air Macau, Hong Kong’s Shun Tak Group and Air China.

The company’s website has also been closed, although its team of 30 employees continue to turn up for work despite the CEO and Business Director have resigned two weeks ago.

Macau Asia Express had been given rights to operate 11 flight routes to mainland China and another 11 to cities within the region.

Earlier the airline company signed an agreement with Aircastle to rent six A320 passenger planes, due to be delivered from the coming December to the first quarter of 2009.

Applications had also been made to open flights to Ho Chi Minh City, Clark, as well as Nagoya, Kitakyushu, Hangzhou and Tianjin.

Sources told Macao Daily News that the six planes that had been rented will be transferred to Air Macau for action.

http://www.blogmacau.info/

hkskyline

November 12th, 2007, 03:51 AM

Can Macau sustain yet another upstart carrier, this one with ambitions to fly to regional routes in China? I don't think the population is big enough to keep it viable.

hkskyline

November 14th, 2007, 04:05 PM

Viva Macau awarded CAPA New Airline of The Year 2007
Corporate Press Release

(Macau, November 1, 2007) - Viva Macau, Asia's newest international low-fare airline, today celebrated its success in contributing to the region's aviation development with the recognition of being the New Airline of The Year.

Viva Macau was honored New Airline of The Year at the Aviation Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner Ceremony held in Singapore on 31 October, and organized by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the region's pre-eminent aviation strategists.

Viva Macau's Chief Executive Con Korfiatis said, 'we are very excited and honored with the recognition that reflects Viva Macau's contribution in bringing the world to the new Macau through its launch of an innovative wide-body product and low fares servicing Macau to Asia and beyond.'

'Viva Macau started up at the right time and place. Macau, Asia's best-kept secret until recently, is now one of the hottest destinations in the world,' said Korfiatis.

'Its rapidly developing, hotel, leisure, entertainment, conference and gaming facilities, along with its world heritage sites and architecture makes it a must to visit, and Viva Macau is committed to offering best-value travel option, and being the airline of choice", Korfiatis added.

The CAPA New Airline of the Year category is awarded to the start-up airline that has, in the past 18 months, had the most significant impact in the markets it operates and to the development of aviation in the region.

At the ceremony, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation acknowledged the contribution Viva Macau has made to the low cost long-haul model and in particular to the rapidly evolving aviation scene in the Macau Special Administrative Region.

"Viva Macau epitomizes the excitement and optimism that surrounds the development of Macau as one of the region's leading leisure and entertainment centers. The city is fast becoming one of Asia's most vibrant LCC destinations and Viva Macau, with its significantly tailored model, will play a major catalyst role", said Peter Harbison, Executive Chairman of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Currently, Viva Macau flies directly to Jakarta, Busan, and Sydney. Flights to Tokyo and Hi Chi Minh will commence before the end of the year. Announcement of start dates for these new routes will be made in the coming weeks.

End

hkskyline

November 15th, 2007, 04:21 PM

By 2700 from a Hong Kong discussion board :
(Notice the Portuguese on the plane's body.)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6091-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6011-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF5934-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6019-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6033-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6083-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6084-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF5930-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF5918-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6037-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF5982-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF5959-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6076-00.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/2700/DSCF6044-00.jpg

hkskyline

November 15th, 2007, 07:47 PM

Budget Carrier Viva Macau to Fly Direct to Ho Chi Minh City

HANOI, November 15, Asia Pulse - In mid-December, Macau's international low-fare airline Viva Macau will begin direct flights from Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City to Macau. The airline's managing director Con Korfiatis said yesterday there would be a return service four times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on the wide-body aircraft B767.

The first flight is slated for December 14. "Viva Macau will be the first and only direct flight between HCM City and Macau, an attractive destination where visitors may combine relaxation, entertainment and participate in events like seminars and conferences," said Korfiatis.

"It's not only Asia's Las Vegas, it also has multicultural charisma, a unique rich historical background and heritage, and convenient accessibility to major cities of the Pearl River Delta like Shenzhen," he said, adding that visas could be acquired at the immigration gate. The ticket price begins at US$82 for one-way tickets, excluding fees and surcharges.

(VNA)

hkskyline

February 18th, 2008, 07:42 AM

Over 5 million passengers use Macao airport in 2007

MACAO, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Macao International Airport, the only airport in the island city, recorded 5.5 million passengers and handled 180,000 tons of cargo in 2007, according to a press statement released on Friday by the company that runs the airport.

The airport also saw 53,000 aircraft movements last year, which, combined with the surging volumes of passengers and the cargoes, boosted the revenue of the airport to a new level, the Macao International Airport Company (CAM) said in its statement.

Despite the substantial increase, the current passenger volume and number of aircraft movements has reached 90 percent of the airport's capacity, while cargo handling volume has already exceeded the original capacity of just 160,000 tons, according to the statement.

For this reason, the airport's two extension projects were underway and expected by the end of next year, which will double the airport's area of shopping and dinning outlets and increase the mezzanine floor to 1,855 square meters, said CAM, adding that other development projects will be launched in the near future.

SeeMacau

February 29th, 2008, 04:49 PM

Viva Macau will fly direct to Melbourne from Macau by the end of this year

hkskyline

July 11th, 2008, 06:08 AM

High fuel costs threaten to ground Air Macau
11 July 2008
South China Morning Post

Air Macau is facing the biggest financial crisis in its 14-year history, with soaring fuel prices threatening to push the carrier into bankruptcy.

Shareholders including Air China and Stanley Ho Hung-sun's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) will meet this month to decide the fate of the city's largest carrier. That could include winding up the airline or a fresh capital injection.

Air Macau yesterday said Air China and the Civil Aviation Administration of China had committed their support, ensuring the company would be sustained through the critical period. Its pilots had also expressed support.

Soaring jet fuel prices have taken a heavy toll on the region's aviation industry this year, with Oasis Hong Kong Airlines going into liquidation in April.

According to a source close to Air China, which owns 51 per cent of Air Macau, letters have been sent to shareholders calling for a meeting to resolve the heavy losses being suffered by the carrier.

Air Macau said "some major strategic moves will be announced very shortly".

It is expected that Air China may buy out shareholders reluctant to commit further funds to the cash-draining carrier.

SEAP, an investment fund of Portuguese airline TAP, owns 20 per cent and STDM owns 14 per cent. Evergreen Airways Service (Macau), the Macau government and several others investors share the balance.

The carrier had lost up to 100 million patacas in the past two months and more than 100 million patacas during the first quarter of this year, equal to the capital of the company, the Macau Daily reported.

The capital has been halved to 200 million patacas because of losses incurred in the past few years.

Air Macau is expected to take a hit from cross-strait passenger flights, with 80 per cent of its Taiwan transit passengers expected to travel directly to the mainland under the new links. That would translate into a 60 per cent drop in passengers.

The company yesterday blamed high fuel costs for its predicament. However, one industry veteran said the carrier's poor performance was due to its management and conservative expansion plan.

"The routes that Air Macau is serving are supposed to be lucrative as it dominates the gateway between Macau and the mainland," said one transport analyst.

Air Macau serves 20 destinations including Taipei, Kaohsiung, Bangkok, Manila, Osaka, Seoul and 13 mainland cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Xiamen. The carrier has not allowed its smaller competitor Viva Macau to operate any routes into the mainland, even though some of the routes are not covered by Air Macau.

"It is not possible for Air Macau to go into bankruptcy," said RCM transport analyst Karen Chan. "It is a matter of reputation and face for Air China to be present in Macau and Macau needs a home carrier as long as it has an airport."

macau_now

July 11th, 2008, 06:55 AM

Well, jet fuel costs the same for all airlines and Air Macau has a huge occupation rate on its flights, so I guess losses can only be attributed to poor management.

hkskyline

July 11th, 2008, 07:15 AM

Well, jet fuel costs the same for all airlines and Air Macau has a huge occupation rate on its flights, so I guess losses can only be attributed to poor management.

Depends ... some airlines hedge their fuel, so they are shielded in part from market price movements.

Filipe Santos

August 7th, 2008, 03:08 AM

Well, jet fuel costs the same for all airlines and Air Macau has a huge occupation rate on its flights, so I guess losses can only be attributed to poor management.

The Chinese guy that is there should go back to Beijing!

MacauVillager28

February 3rd, 2009, 02:44 PM

Macao and mainland China inks new MOU regarding the air transport market between the two places

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the air transport market between mainland China and Macao on 3 February 2009. The new MOU, which lifted some of the restrictions imposed on airline designation and capacity in the old memorandum, will help to enhance the air transport market between the two places.

With the rapid economic development in mainland China and the opportunities driven by the economic boom in Macao, there are great potentials in the expansion of the air services between the two places. The two aeronautical authorities met in April 2008 in Macao for exchange of opinions about the sustainable growth of the air transport market between mainland China and Macao and reached preliminary conclusions on liberalizing the MOU provisions.

The old MOU was signed in December 2006. According to the old memorandum, the number of mainland destinations opened for operation was 57. The designation of airlines and the capacity provisions had certain restrictions, depending on the destinations. Although the new MOU is still confined to 57 destinations, the restrictions imposed on airline designation and capacity, however, are partially lifted. The main provisions of the two memoranda can be compared in the following table:

(* Please find attached file.)

Presently, the mainland destinations for scheduled services which Macao now connects to amounts to 12: Beijing, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guilin, Kunming, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Wuhan, Tianjin and Wuxi. These services are operated by 6 mainland and Macao airlines which are Air Macau, China Eastern Airlines, East Star Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.

The signing ceremony was conducted at the cabinet of the Secretary for Transport and Public Works. With the presence of the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr. Lau Si Io and the Vice Minister of CAAC, Mr. Yang Guoqing as the guests of honour, President of AACM, Mr. Chan Weng Hong and Vice Director of the Air Transport Bureau of CAAC, Mr. He Jinri signed the new MOU.

Secretary Lau Si Io and Vice Minister Yang Guoqing had a meeting before the signing ceremony. Secretary Lau thanked the Central Government for its long-term support rendered to Macao’s aviation and explained how the SAR government has helped the local aviation industry and the local airlines to develop their business by adopting flexible measures. In addition, Secretary Lau raised the following issues to CAAC for their study and consideration: allowing the mainland airlines to fly beyond points via Macao, allowing Macao’s airlines to fly to beyond points via mainland cities and allowing foreign airlines to fly to mainland cities via Macao. Facing the realization of cross strait direct flights, Secretary Lau also wished that the market between Macao and Taiwan can be opened up, for example, more destinations in Taiwan and more Taiwanese airlines to be allowed to fly between the two places. Vice Minister Yang indicated that the Central Government will continue to render support to the development of Macao’s aviation and will study deeply into the issues requested by the Macao side. Both sides agreed that the aeronautical authorities of Macao and mainland China should meet regularly to continually discuss and exchange opinions and establish cooperation regarding the enhancement of the air transport market between mainland China and Macao.

*The 57 mainland cities opened for operation are as follows:

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming, Dalian, Chengdu, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Xian, Chongqing, Qingdao, Urumqi, Nanjing, Guilin, Changsha, Wuhan, Ningbo, Shantou, Haikou, Shenyang, Shijiazhuang, Changchun, Harbin, Taiyuan, Sanya, Huangshan, Wenzhou, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Lijiang, Hefei, Nanchang, Luoyang, Yantai, Beihai, Wuyishan, Meixian, Zhanjiang, Lanzhou, Nanning, Guiyang, Zhangjiajie, Hailar, Yanji, Jiamusi, Qiqihar, Mudanjiang, Weihai, Xishuangbanna, Lhasa, Kashi, Yinchuan, Yichang and Hohhot.

MacauVillager28

February 3rd, 2009, 02:51 PM

^^^^
I think this is the first phase of China boosting Macau...(tho maybe to partly make up for some of loss from Taiwan flights)...

I think this MOU basically allows 'fifth freedom ?' rights... something many places would want (tho I guess subject to further approvals) and is aimed at allowing Macau to develop as a hub for China.
However, this would be a longer-term development, given that current capacity at Macao airport is limited, and it has considerable competition in Guangzhou, HK, Shenzhen airports already.

Also interesting in that foreign airlines can fly via Macau to China (guess this would appeal to SE Asian routes short-term, tho long term it may develop to allow stopover for Europe to Australia etc....

But in short term, it maybe the first boost in allowing more travellers from China and SE Asia to visit Macau more easily.

hkskyline

February 6th, 2009, 08:32 PM

Commercial flight movements at Macao's airport down 7 pct in 2008

MACAO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Commercial flight movements at the Macao International Airport decreased by 7 percent year-on-year to 46,036 in 2008, according to the figures released on Friday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The DSEC figures showed that the Chinese mainland and China's Taiwan, and Malaysia were the major routes that accounted for 27 percent, 38 percent, and 10 percent of the total commercial flights to/from Macao. Helicopter flights between Macao and Hong Kong totaled 17,553 and those between Macao and mainland were 2, 933, down by 1 percent and 4 percent respectively from 2007.

Outward air cargo fell sharply by 40 percent year-on-year to 41, 548 tons in 2008. China's Taiwan and mainland were the main destinations that accounted for 67 percent and 11 percent of the total, respectively. Meanwhile, inward air cargo decreased by 27 percent to 16,705 tons, with those from Taiwan taking a predominant share of 83 percent. Transit air cargo dropped significantly by 52 percent over 2007 to 42,515 tons.

In addition, traffic flow by land between Macao and the mainland decreased by 1 percent to 3.79 million vehicle trips and the Border Gate in 2008, which connects Macao with the neighboring mainland city Zhuhai, was the major passage that took up 81 percent of the total.

As for passenger transport by sea, the transport between Macao and Hong Kong decreased by 4 percent compared with 2007 to 84,375 ferry trips in 2008, while that between Macao and the mainland increased by 20 percent to 20,914 trips.

hkskyline

March 27th, 2009, 07:26 PM

澳門航空去年虧損約４億澳門元
26 March 2009
新華社中文新聞

澳門航空董事會主席兼總經理趙曉航２６日表示，，比上年虧損增加２倍多。

澳門航空２６日舉行股東大會，趙曉航表示，澳門航空的目標市場已經調整，行銷策略以澳門為中心設計航班，也會增加澳門作為中轉站的機會，包括與中國國際航空合作，讓從澳門到北京的旅客可以前往其他地方。

joxchiangmaithailand

March 30th, 2009, 05:29 PM

I love this airport

small but nice

I hope

I will go again soon.

HereAndThere

April 3rd, 2009, 12:43 PM

Korean budget airline to fly to Macau, Bangkok
Friday, 03 April 2009
Jin Air, Korean Air's budget affiliate, has selected China and Thailand as its first two destinations for international service, the Korean Times reported yesterday.
The budget carrier, which started domestic service last July, said it would start international operation starting in October to Macau and Bangkok. Airfare will be about 80 percent of that of full service carriers.

Some positive news after suspension of 2 airlines.
Thai carrier Bangkok Airways announced the suspension of its daily Bangkok-Macau route from March 28 because the number of passengers has decreased significantly. Malaysia Airlines (MAS) are also suspending its current daily Macau-Kuala Lumpur route around the end of March.

Blackraven

April 17th, 2009, 03:49 PM

Wow, there are quite a number of Filipinos working in this airport. Heck, I was even shocked when one airport official working there approached me and asked: "Kelangan nyo ho ba ng tulong sa check-in? (Do you need any help/assistance in checking-in?)"

Wow, talk about the local touch even when I'm not in my home country (the Philippines).

Anyways, it's my first time to visit the small airport so I'm not really sure as to what feedback I should give about it. :)

hkskyline

June 22nd, 2009, 06:21 PM

Airlines cutting back on service to Macau
22 June 2009
South China Morning Post

Flight cancellations by airlines serving Macau have soared in the wake of the financial crisis, as hard-hit carriers struggle to respond to plunging cargo volumes and passenger traffic.

China Eastern Airlines has cancelled all of its scheduled flights to and from the gaming hub in the first three months of the year, compared with an already dismal 67.7 per cent cancellation rate in the second half of last year, figures from the Macau Civil Aviation Authority show.

Fujian-based Xiamen Airlines slashed 59 per cent of Macau flights and Malaysia Airlines cancelled 38 per cent. Debt-laden East Star, a private carrier based in Wuhan whose licence was revoked by regulators in March, slashed 40 per cent of its Macau flights in the first quarter.

Financially troubled flag carrier Air Macau, which captured 35.1 per cent of passenger market share on Macau routes during the first four months of the year, cancelled 9 per cent of its flights in the first quarter.

Separately, local press reports last week said Portuguese carrier TAP was considering selling its 15 per cent stake in Air Macau, which is 51 per cent held by state-owned China National Aviation Corporation.

Aviation authority president Simon Chan Wing-hung said in a written reply to local legislators that the cancellations were due not only to the effects of the financial crisis, but the increase in the number of direct flights between the mainland and Taiwan. Flights to and from Taiwan still accounted for 43.5 per cent of Macau's total air traffic in the year to April. The figure was up from 40.69 per cent of passenger traffic last year but down from 46 per cent in 2007.

But Mr Chan said low-cost airlines appeared to be riding out the downturn better and had suffered few, if any, cancellations. Malaysia-based Air Asia cancelled none of its Macau flights in the first quarter and captured a 14.7 per cent market share on passenger traffic. Homegrown budget airline Viva Macau cancelled only 4 per cent of its flights and had a 3.9 per cent market share.

In the first four months of the year, passenger traffic in Macau fell 21.7 per cent from a year ago, while cargo volumes plummeted 65.7 per cent, according to figures from Macau International Airport. Aircraft movements have declined 22.4 per cent over the same period.

Visitor arrivals by plane and helicopter accounted for 7.9 per cent of Macau's total visits in April, while 41.8 per cent of visitors arrived by sea and 50.3 per cent by land.

Gwo Loo Waan

June 23rd, 2009, 06:40 AM

When something bad or not positive happens in Macau, there is always someone from HK to post it... I would like to understand why...

Ah, Macau Airport is not in deep shit...

hkskyline

June 23rd, 2009, 04:44 PM

When something bad or not positive happens in Macau, there is always someone from HK to post it... I would like to understand why...

Ah, Macau Airport is not in deep shit...

Because Macau is close to Hong Kong. What happens in one place will likely be well-covered by another. I'm quite sure if something really big happened in Hong Kong, good or bad, Macau will know about it. Don't think either city lives in its own secluded bubble.

Looking at the air traffic statistics published by the Macau Airport website (http://www.macau-airport.gov.mo/site/php/en/statistic_passengers.php), the picture looks quite dire. There is a significant drop in # of passengers.

Gwo Loo Waan

June 24th, 2009, 04:43 AM

hkskyline

June 24th, 2009, 05:00 AM

What happens is, when something bad happens in Macau, we always see a HK forum participant coming here and the posting news. When something good happens in Macau, we don't see any of them. Hong Kong style!

There is a significant drop in # of passengers in Macau Airport but it was expected. It is not going to close 'cause of that, don't worry.

Well, there isn't much good news happening in the aviation sector around the world lately. Don't think this should come as a surprise to anyone, and Macau is no exception. However, Macau's reliance on cross-strait flights and small domestic market means the downturn will be more severely felt. For good news, there are quite a few which I've posted right in this thread :
Post 61 - New airlines take to the skies
Post 62 - Hong Kong investors take up stake in new planned carrier
Post 72 - Nok Air comes to Macau
Post 74 - East Star comes to Macau
Post 77 - Viva wins award

There are a few more lurking around. I just checked most of one page so far.

hkskyline

July 15th, 2009, 08:09 PM

Air China buys 1.25 pct Air Macau stake -report

HONG KONG, July 15 (Reuters) - Two companies controlled by Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho have sold a combined 1.25 percent stake in financially troubled Air Macau to a unit of China flagship carrier Air China , the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

The stake sale for an undisclosed sum was confirmed by sources at Air China , a unit of Air Macau controlling shareholder China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). The deal comes weeks after Air Macau's shareholders voted to approve a 507.3 million pataca (US$65 million) rescue package by the Macau government, the newspaper said.

Ho, whose term ay the top post in Macau ends in December, was a founding shareholder of Air Macau when the airline was set up in 1994.

CNAC's voting interest in the Macau airline increases to 52.25 percent following the deal, the paper said.

Other shareholders include Portugese airline TAP, which holds a 15 percent stake, and Sociedade de Turismoe Diversoes de Macau with 14 percent. Portugese-owned lender BNU, Taiwan's Evergreen Airways and the Macau government each hold 5 percent.

It gave no further financial details.

Late on Tuesday, Air China said it expected to see at least a 50 percent year-on-year rise in profit for the first half of 2009 as fuel purchase costs fell and the domestic air passenger market showed stable growth.

Gwo Loo Waan

July 16th, 2009, 01:42 AM

1.25 pct is about nothing. Air China still controls Air Macau and everyone else wants to sell their stakes in the company. That's a deep hole.

Gwo Loo Waan

July 17th, 2009, 04:09 AM

Jin Air to fly to Macau in October

Jin Air, a budget air carrier owned by Korean Air, will start operating its first international flights to Macau four times a week in October.

Jin Air plans to operate international flights on October 29 to two popular destinations in Asia - Bangkok and Macau. We are the first flagship carrier to operate direct flights to Macau,” Kim Jae-kun, president of the air carrier, told reporters.

The air carrier also plans to begin operations to Osaka and Weihai of China in December and to Guam in January next year, saying it will offer services 20-30 percent cheaper than major airlines connecting Incheon to those Asian cities.

Jin Air said the air carrier was targeting 80 billion won (US$63.2) in sales revenue this year, a massive increase from last year's 10.2 billion won. By 2010, the air carrier plans to post an operating profit with 150 billion won in sales.

Under its new slogan, Save the Air, the budget carrier plans to offer discounts for passengers flying without baggage starting in September. The company said this was to reduce fuel consumption. Jin Air is a low cost airline based in Seoul, South Korea. It is a subsidiary of Korean Air. The airline began operations in July 2008.

in www.macaubusiness.com

Good news!

Epilif

July 17th, 2009, 05:24 AM

Gwo Loo Waan

July 17th, 2009, 09:11 AM

Hong Kong press... the very best in the world!

MacauVillager28

July 17th, 2009, 09:41 AM

Wot country is Portugal in ?

Gwo Loo Waan

July 17th, 2009, 10:18 AM

As far as I know European Union is not a country but an economic and political union of 27 member states.

Epilif

July 17th, 2009, 03:19 PM

Wot country is Portugal in ?

From someone whose nick is Macau you should really know where Portugal, because we (Portugal) owned Macau for a long long time...

Gwo Loo Waan

July 18th, 2009, 03:27 PM

Sorry mate, he is not Macanese or a Macau citizen. He is one of those "cowboys" who thinks that Macau was born in 2001. Then Mr Adelson comes to the press wondering why there is strong anti-America sentiment in Macau...

Epilif

July 18th, 2009, 04:06 PM

hkskyline

July 24th, 2009, 05:48 PM

Stake sale casts new light on Macau Inc Family ties loom large in enclave's corporate affairs
24 July 2009
South China Morning Post

On several fronts, Macau's economy ranks among the freest in the world. Like Hong Kong, it is a free port with no import or export duties on transshipments. Profit and income tax rates, capped at only 12 per cent, are the lowest in Asia.

But, as has also been the case in Hong Kong, large swathes of the enclave's domestic economy have for years been carved up into a number of lucrative de jure and de facto monopolies.

And while the builders of the flashy Las Vegas-style casinos may dominate news flow out of the city, the real face of Macau Inc consists of a small and politically influential group of business families that have loomed large over most aspects of the city's domestic economy for decades.

The oft-blurred lines between business and government in the city were highlighted anew with the recent sale by the family of Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah of a 1.25 per cent stake in financially troubled Air Macau to a subsidiary of mainland flag carrier Air China.

The Air Macau stake, sold to majority shareholder Air China's wholly owned subsidiary CNAC (Macau) last month as the technically insolvent airline launched a government-backed 507.3 million pataca bailout plan, was only a small part of Mr Ho's economic footprint in Macau. Many of the family's holdings are legacy assets of the empire left behind by Mr Ho's father, the late Tai Fung Bank founder Ho Yin.

The sprawling nature of his father's businesses and his own endeavours since taking over the helm at Tai Fung in the early 1980s have sometimes complicated Mr Ho's role as the top official in Macau.

As he prepared to assume office following Macau's handover by Portugal in December 1999, Mr Ho transferred nearly all of his personal business holdings to other members of the family or trusted friends. But he would appear to have overlooked several interests.

From 1991 to 2003, inclusive of his first four years in office as the chief executive of Macau, Mr Ho served as a director of the private Hong Kong-registered firm Viable.

Viable was established in 1987 and, along with Shun Tak Holdings, maintains a controlling stake in Sociedade de Turismo e Desenvolvimento Insular (STDI), which owns the Macau Golf and Country Club and the attached Westin resort hotel, according to Hong Kong and Macau companies registry filings and Shun Tak's filings to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Mr Ho's fellow directors at Viable included gaming magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun and jewellery and property tycoon Cheng Yu-tung, who heads New World Development and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, registry filings show.

Other directors included Macau leaders like National People's Congress Standing Committee member Ma Man-kei and Roque Choi, the former Portuguese secretary to Ho Yin and an uncle of former Hong Kong chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan.

For years, Mr Ho's family-run Tai Fung held a minority stake in the firm, according to Hong Kong companies registry filings. Mr Ho resigned as a director of Viable on October 29, 2003.

Apart from Viable, Mr Ho and two brothers inherited from their father a small interest in Many Town, a Hong Kong firm that holds a substantial stake in Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM). STDM controlled Macau's gaming monopoly for four decades until 2002 and remains the controlling shareholder of Stanley Ho's SJM Holdings.

Mr Ho in 2007 announced that he had transferred the Many Town stake to one of his brothers in 1995, well before assuming office. But Hong Kong companies registry filings did not reflect that transfer.

Many Town's annual filings continued to list Mr Ho and two brothers as shareholders until April 2 last year, when their stake was transferred to Braniff Assets, a British Virgin Islands company.

The Macau government did not respond to e-mail inquiries from the South China Morning Post.

And then there is the Air Macau stake. Government-issued concessions for monopolies, duopolies and oligopolies in Macau range from the most obvious - the six casino licensees - to activities and industries including horse and dog racing, ferry services, sports betting, lottery sales, electricity, water, bus services, taxis, rubbish collection and helicopter services. And airlines.

Air Macau holds a monopoly concession on operating air services from the city, but the licence has lost some of its exclusivity in recent years as several "subconcessions" have been granted to smaller start-ups.

Still, for the most part, Air Macau enjoys the right of first refusal on route allocations and dominates the lucrative passenger flows to and from Taiwan.

Mr Ho, whose term as chief executive expires in December this year, was a founding shareholder of Air Macau when it was established in 1994 through two local companies he controlled together with his wife: Tenways and Tengood.

On assuming his present office in 1999, Mr Ho transferred control of the firms to other family members. According to Macau-based Portuguese newspaper Ponto Final, which first reported the sale of the Air Macau stake, Tenways is controlled by Mr Ho's mother, Chan King, while control of Tengood was transferred on June 6 to Mr Ho's son, Justin Ho King-man.

The sale of the stake to Air China came just weeks after shareholders of the troubled airline voted on April 15 to approve a government-backed 507.3 million pataca bailout package.

Air Macau's financial rescue plan includes an injection of 200 million patacas in taxpayer funds from the Macau government, which Mr Ho heads, prompting some observers to speculate that the sale of the family stake was a timely effort to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

CNAC's purchase of the Ho family stake lifts its voting interest in Air Macau to 52.25 per cent.

Other substantial shareholders with voting rights include Portuguese airline TAP with 15 per cent and STDM with 14 per cent.

Locally incorporated and Portuguese-owned lender BNU, Taiwan's Evergreen Airways and the Macau government each hold a 5 per cent stake in the airline.

Air Macau has operated at a loss for several years and slipped into technical insolvency as of December last year with a net asset value of negative HK$104.2 million, Air China said in a June 1 filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Because Air Macau's equity value sank far below the legal threshold of 50 per cent its registered share capital, Macau corporate law mandated that existing shareholders either inject new funding or dissolve the company.

The resulting bailout plan was passed by a two-thirds majority of shareholders on April 15, but not all shareholders were happy as it required them to contribute new capital to a money-losing business facing declining passenger and cargo volumes.

TAP took legal action and earlier this month won an injunction from a Macau court that has temporarily suspended the restructuring plan from proceeding further.

It is interesting to note that Tenways, one of the holding companies for the Ho family stake in Air Macau before the sale, has been an investor in other Macau business interests alongside Chui Sai-cheong.

Mr Chui hails from another influential local business family and serves as an indirectly elected member of the local legislature.

His younger brother, Fernando Chui Sai-on, is running unopposed to succeed Mr Ho as Macau's next chief executive. He is expected to take office in December.

Gwo Loo Waan

July 25th, 2009, 09:35 AM

The very best HK newspaper is back again with another lyric story clearly to hit Macau reputation. Ho, Chui, Lui, Ma are very old and powerful families in Macau. It's obvious they common interests and they rule part of Macau. What did HK lovely newspaper want? Probably a Hong Kong as Chief Executive of Macau? For God sake this press stinks..

hkskyline

July 25th, 2009, 09:43 AM

Well, the collaboration and partnership between business and government is a key area of concern as many conflicts of interest may arise. In fact, any business family with close government ties comes under heavy scrutiny these days in HK.

Gwo Loo Waan

July 25th, 2009, 10:26 AM

Hong Kong is the heaven on earth. We know that in Macau for years, don't worry!
Anyway did you forget that Macau has only 28,6 km2? Not that easy to find someone suitable for Chief Executive without any links to private activities.

hkskyline

July 25th, 2009, 08:09 PM

It's not a matter of size. There are still a few hundred thousand people. Chances are you can find people in government who do not have business ties. The corruption scandal shows the dark side of these conflicts of interest.

Here in Hong Kong, the news was reporting allegations the financial regulator are collaborating with the banks for the Lehman minibond scandal, especially with the definition of professional investor and the compensation plan. The question of conflicts of interests are so often asked around here. It's a key governance item.

Gwo Loo Waan

July 26th, 2009, 05:31 AM

We could spend a lot of time discussing what the very best for Macau government. Anyway I don't think this is the topic, right?

hkskyline

April 26th, 2010, 12:15 PM

Firefly may take MAS jets to expand
21 April 2010
Business Times

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) is evaluating the potential of allowing wholly-owned FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd to operate its B737-400 planes when it replaces its fleet gradually from the end of this year.

The national carrier will receive three of its B737-800 this year and the next. It will also receive five A330-300 and another five A380 next year.

Sources said that Firefly would either lease or buy up to 35 of the used MAS jets, and would use the aircraft for short-range domestic and regional routes.

The plan is expected to take off from December this year until the end of 2013 when MAS stops using the B737-400.

Business Times has learnt that Firefly may either operate the Boeings from the KL International Airport (KLIA) or the new Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT).

The airline is believed to have already contacted Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) about reserving slots for the additional planes at the new LCCT.

"It is likely that Firefly will opt for KLIA, which is currently under-utilised, as this will enable the airline's passengers to connect seamlessly on their onward journeys," a source said.

Firefly, which was set up by MAS three years ago, currently operates ATR 72-500 turboprops from its hubs in Subang and Penang.

Besides using the jets to add capacity and frequencies to the domestic routes it serves (and also those of MAS), Firefly is also likely to add new destinations like Macau, Jogjakarta, Haadyai, Bandung and Chiangmai, which are not served by MAS at present.

In addition, Firefly may ply routes where MAS is facing intense competition from low-cost carriers.

These include routes like Kuala Lumpur-Medan, Penang-Medan, Kuala Lumpur-Singapore and Penang-Singapore.

"As a new airline operating out of KLIA, Firefly will be entitled to many incentives from MAHB and this could result in lower operating costs which could then be transferred to even lower fares," the source said.

Firefly currently has a staff headcount of 350. If the plan to use the jets in addition to the turbo-props materialises, the airline is set to boast a headcount of 1,500 in four years.

pearl river

June 10th, 2010, 07:16 AM

Gaming sector asks for ‘open sky’ policy
10/06/2010 03:17:00

Kevin Clayton, executive vice president at Sands China, said the solution is ‘to open up the international airport to more airlines’
The Macau International Airport (MIA) should open its flight rights to other airlines besides flag carrier Air Macau, said two gaming operator executives yesterday. According to them, the passenger traffic at MIA will continue to drop in favour of neighbouring airports until the monopoly is overturned.
“Things will not change until flight rights at the Macau airport are open,” said Peter Caveny, principal investor relations at Galaxy Entertainment.
“The bus trip from Guangzhou to Macau takes one and a half hours and yet they are always full,” he said, during the 2010 Global Gaming Expo Asia (G2E Asia).
“Domestic flights in mainland China are quite inexpensive.
But flights to Hong Kong and Macau are already international so they have to pay a lot more tax,” Caveny added.
Furthermore, underscored the Galaxy executive, the expansion of Guangzhou airport will make it the third biggest in the world by 2015, with direct connections to around 103 airports in mainland China.
By then, Caveny said, the Chinese visitors will be able to reach Macau in 47 minutes using the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Mass Rapid Transit.
According to the latest available data, in April there was a 5 percent increase on the number of visitors, compared to same period last year. In April, 2.1 million visitors crossed the Macau borders, the highest since March 2008.
However the passenger traffic at MIA is on a two-month downward trend.

Viva Macau was ‘an opportunity’

The MIA figures have been quick to reflect the impact of Viva Macau’s air operator certificate revocation, which only took place on March 28.
“We have just lost an airline,” recalled Kevin Clayton, executive vice president for marketing operations at Sands China. Viva Macau was “an advantage, an opportunity to markets like Japan, Indonesia or Australia,” he said.
For Clayton, the solution has to be “to open up the international airport to more airlines and more air routes.” Caveny stated a similar view: “We have to open the Macau skies.” Currently, Air Macau, the flag carrier of Macau, has a nominal monopoly on commercial flights to and from the MIA until 2015. Viva Macau was operating under a sub-concession, in which Air Macau had first-refusal right on all routes.
The Galaxy executive believes the gaming market is fulfilling “less than 20 percent of its potential.” “I see no barriers but we just have to get the infrastructure right,” Caveny warned.
“Macau has the convention space, the hotel rooms, but not the infrastructures to become a MICE [Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions] industry centre,” said Andy Nazarechuk, dean of the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Singapore Campus.
In a recent interview with local Portuguese-language radio station, the director of Marketing Department at CAM-Macau International Airport Company, António Rato, said that the aviation regulator should issue more licenses, making way for more companies to enter the Macau market. For Rato, it is not possible to take advantage of all the potential with only Air Macau, especially following the revocation of Viva Macau’s license.
According to Rato, Air Macau shouldn’t have the exclusive air service rights. On the other hand, he said that the Civil Aviation Authority of Macau should be in charge of managing the aviation licenses concession.

Blackraven

September 6th, 2010, 09:04 PM

spicytimothy

September 6th, 2010, 09:49 PM

builder1959

September 8th, 2010, 10:47 AM

Sorry, but Macau airport is not world-class. It is okay/average........but not breathtaking/legendary.

Heck, the casinos in Macau (i.e. Grand Lisboa, City of Dreams, Venetian Macao, etc.) have better designs and interiors than the country's own airport.

If they can do this much for casinos, then why not do the same for the airport?

So personally, as of the moment, I do not want to use Macau Airport. I travel via HKIA then take boat to Macau.

P.S.
Here's a suggestion:
Why not ask Airport Authority of Hong Kong for help? More specifically, ask Norman Foster for help? He designed Chek Lap Kok and other airports around the world and they are ALL WORLD-CLASS. Why not ask him to develop, rebuild or renovate Macau airport?

All I'm saying is:
Macau airport does not need to be bigger (relative to current demand and target number of passengers, airport facilities are sufficient enough atm)

rather

Macau airport needs to look better and more modern/sophisticated (i.e. like HKIA and world-class airport standards)

Two cents :)

Sorry, but what makes the airport not world class, a few shops and restaurants? Come on man, how many international airports do you know where checking in and arrivals/immigration etc. are so quick. I love going through the airport, particularly arriving. I have travelled in and out maybe 30 times and I do not think it has ever taken me more than 15 to 20 minutes from plane to taxi. Hell, I have waited longer than that just to reclaim suitcases off of the ferry from HK!

Departures are also fine. The lounge is acceptable, food not too bad, what more do you need?

With regards comparing the airport to the casinos that is like comparing apples and oranges. Besides, who wnats to go through an airport as gaudy as most of the casinos.

Leave it alone I say, it functions perfectly well.

hkskyline

September 8th, 2010, 07:31 PM

Macau and Hong Kong are paired up tourist destinations. Hence, with such a strong airport in HK, I doubt Macau's airport is even sustainable in the long-run, especially with the new bridge that will link to HK ... right by the airport as the entry point.

Blackraven

September 8th, 2010, 08:13 PM

Sorry, but what makes the airport not world class, a few shops and restaurants? Come on man, how many international airports do you know where checking in and arrivals/immigration etc. are so quick. I love going through the airport, particularly arriving. I have travelled in and out maybe 30 times and I do not think it has ever taken me more than 15 to 20 minutes from plane to taxi. Hell, I have waited longer than that just to reclaim suitcases off of the ferry from HK!

Departures are also fine. The lounge is acceptable, food not too bad, what more do you need?

With regards comparing the airport to the casinos that is like comparing apples and oranges. Besides, who wnats to go through an airport as gaudy as most of the casinos.

Leave it alone I say, it functions perfectly well.

Look at your neighborg Hong Kong and their airport.

But like I said, it doesn't have to be as big as HKIA as the size of Macau Airport is already sufficient in its current form.

Rather, as I've stated, the interiors have to be more world-class.

For example, look at airports like Chek Lap Kok, Changi, DXB, Heathrow Terminal 5, Charles De Gaulle, Haneda, Narita, Incheon, Toronto Airport, etc.

The interiors of this airport are WORLD-CLASS. Heck, KLIA and that new Thailand airport have world-class interiors too even if they are not yet developed countries atm.............and this has nothing to do with airport size.

For many foreigners, the first impression that they often get of a country first starts with the AIRPORT.

Anyways AFAIK, Macau is rich and loaded with funds and still growing/expanding. With that said, why not use a bit of the funds to renovate or improve the interiors of the airport.

Cause seriously, for me, the inside feels like I'm inside some kind of budget airport terminal.

No offense to any of the locals but I have to say, I do not wish to set foot in your airport any time soon.....

AzN8oi

September 21st, 2010, 04:40 AM

Hmm Macau always strikes me as having too small a population to support an int'l airport, but with the booming gambling industry it only makes sense... Do Chinese tourists (those not within bus tour distance of coz) fly to Macau directly? Or do they fly to HK and then travel over to Macau by boat?

Unless you are from Chengdu, Shanghai, or Beijing, there are not really any direct flights for Mainlanders. Most fly into Zhuhai or Shenzhen and take a ferry to Macau.

ad50939

September 21st, 2010, 05:51 AM

Look at your neighborg Hong Kong and their airport.

But like I said, it doesn't have to be as big as HKIA as the size of Macau Airport is already sufficient in its current form.

Rather, as I've stated, the interiors have to be more world-class.

For example, look at airports like Chek Lap Kok, Changi, DXB, Heathrow Terminal 5, Charles De Gaulle, Haneda, Narita, Incheon, Toronto Airport, etc.

The interiors of this airport are WORLD-CLASS. Heck, KLIA and that new Thailand airport have world-class interiors too even if they are not yet developed countries atm.............and this has nothing to do with airport size.

For many foreigners, the first impression that they often get of a country first starts with the AIRPORT.

Anyways AFAIK, Macau is rich and loaded with funds and still growing/expanding. With that said, why not use a bit of the funds to renovate or improve the interiors of the airport.

Cause seriously, for me, the inside feels like I'm inside some kind of budget airport terminal.

No offense to any of the locals but I have to say, I do not wish to set foot in your airport any time soon.....

You don't need Norman Foster, just a smart interior decor and retail & F&B (food & beverage) planning to make it more fun to go thru the airport. Most of the time the interiors of modern airports were indeed not done by the architect.

ad50939

October 16th, 2010, 04:57 AM

揭珠海澳門合建機場磋商三輪無果背後故事
2010/10/11
策劃：任偉溫衝
統籌：南都記者胡明發
採寫、整理：南都記者蔣樂進李潔瓊實習生彭心冬

http://news.sina.com.tw/article/images/news-1-250x0-1286774435713.jpg

命運工程，顧名思義，關係珠海經濟特區發展命運之關鍵工程，為首當屬機場項目。珠海機場一度被當作重復建設典型，遭主管部門和輿論同時批評。這一工程給當時的珠海“一哥”梁廣大帶來的非議遠多於褒獎。有人說，像機場這種重大項目功過是非全部歸結到梁廣大，也許過高估計其力量。但不可否認，梁是主角之一……

澳葡研究兩年無果
　　
旁白：

　　珠海建特區之初，機場就擺上議程。1983年，珠海向省委提出請示報告，後與廣州民航局建了直升機場。其時澳門有合建機場的意向。

　　珠海外事部門檔案資料顯示，澳門政府政務司馬文佳和澳門經濟財政暨旅遊政務司孟智，分別于1985年4月17日、1985年6月29日和1986年2月13日，與珠海市政府、珠海機場簽訂了籌建備忘錄。

　　而澳門檔案資料顯示，早在1979年12月，澳門就經港澳辦會同有關部門向國務院提出過合建國際機場的意向。

梁廣大回憶:

　　我當時把它當作珠海的命運工程來對待。主要是綜觀全世界，各大城市、各大經濟區域，沒有機場，沒有港口，沒有鐵路，沒有能源基地等，就成不了大城市、大經濟區域。反觀珠海經濟特區也是一樣。如果站在珠海本身研究珠海，珠海確沒有必要建機場、港口、鐵路等這批基礎工程，小小珠海搞那麼大的工程幹嘛？但是從另外一面看珠海，珠海是國家經濟特區，擔負著國家改革開放試辦特區探索重任，就不能夠以珠海論珠海了。應按小平指引的，無經驗、無資金就自己闖出一條血路來。所以珠海幾大工程建設立足于市場經濟，對機場、港口、伶仃洋大橋、鐵路等大型基礎項目都是為了更好對外開放，吸收外來投資。

　　珠海與澳門合建機場是在特區成立不久就洽談了。當時澳督高斯達委托香港梁幗馨女士(又名迪娜)代表澳門方面，同珠海洽談，省經貿委主任葉澄海參加。洽談前徵求過新華社澳門分社社長柯正平、副社長鄭華的意見。地點在廣州市省政府迎賓館。省政府外經貿委主任參與研究，雙方經友好研究，決定共同合作建機場。澳葡起先研究兩年，認為經濟效益不大而擱置。以後多年沒有洽談了。

“賭王”出面談合建事宜
　　
旁白：

　　“七五”期間，國外一些大財團到珠海考察投資項目，不少失望而去，因為珠海沒有大交通能源設施。因此，珠海機場的選址和論証工作，又開始進行。

　　廣州民航局提出在珠海香洲灣建跑道，未果。

　　第二選址方案在金鼎區下柵，被否決。

　　第三個在珠海上衝檢查站外，坦洲方向，未果。

　　就在珠海繼續選址之時，澳門方面又提出合建機場。委托“賭王”何鴻燊與梁廣大等珠海領導洽談。

　　雙方達成較成熟意見，中央有關領導認為此方案比較可行，並有過批示意見。1990年之後，合建與否，澳葡方面不了了之，大家亦不提不談。

梁廣大回憶：

　　香洲灣的選址在市中心，飛機起飛降落都要經過市區，對居民生活影響大，所以我們斷然否決。金鼎區下柵，雖地表環境好，但是淨空不好，周邊有山影響飛機的起飛降落。上衝檢查站外選址，淤泥淤積層太深了，施工成本太高。

　　後來何鴻燊來談了三次，他真誠友好，我們都談得很高興。雙方一致認為合建機場可以節約成本，又能充分發揮機場作用，通過調研選址，認為小橫琴島是最合適的位置。

　　約定雙方各自出錢修建一條通道，各建一座橋，澳門那邊的是通往□仔的，珠海這邊跨越馬騮洲水道入灣仔。各自出錢，各自境內按各自法律條規管理，不收土地費。

　　當時的副總理李鵬、民航總局郭浩、國務院副秘書長王斯明和廣州民航總局于延恩等曾專門乘坐直升飛機，在澳門□仔東面海域填海建機場的位置低空繞飛了兩圈，考察珠澳合建機場項目。

　　1989年5月，李鵬再來珠海視察，請新華社澳門分社社長李耀其、顧問柯正平先生一齊來研究合作建機場事宜，會議在石景山莊二樓會議廳。

　　但李耀其說，澳葡當局對我們三個條件有看法，即跟外國簽航空協議時，需報我方批准；飛機進入我領空時，要向我方報告；只能民用不能軍用。澳門感到受到制約，對合作問題不表態，建機場的事情就這樣放下了。李鵬聽後總感覺欠妥，明確提出：你應該多做些工作，兩地合作建一個機場十分合適，選址好，各方面條件都合適，投資又少。跟澳葡指出，你們建不建，若不建珠海就不等了。

萬噸炸藥炸了一座山
　　
旁白：

　　基於珠海與珠江西岸廣大地區需要機場，珠海同時上報國務院主管部門批複，珠海最後定在三灶建機場。

　　讓內地人大跌眼鏡的是，珠海機場興建期間澳門又傳出自己要建機場。當時有港澳說法稱，珠海不支持澳門的機場建設，澳門地少，需填海造地，珠海不提供沙石延誤了工期……

梁廣大回憶：

　　我們一直加快選址，經過專家考察再三，西部三灶島上有一個舊的軍用機場，是日本侵華時偷偷修建的。只要把西部一座山頭炸掉就可以了。

　　1991年8月，我們請中央軍委總參批准，之後又請南京工程學院工程兵幫助我們把炮台山這座1300萬噸的石頭大山定向爆破。終於在1992年12月28日上午，以12000噸炸藥把這座大山炸了。接著，機場工程招標，機場建設工作順利有序進行。

　　後來澳門建機場，吳福先生(澳門商人)叫我幫澳門建機場供沙石。其實澳門建機場時沒有提出要珠海供應沙石，而是找中山的人簽合同。但中山沙石不合格運輸又太遠，難以保障供應。

　　我們後來要澳門方面登報澄清事實，之後珠光接了這個項目。澳門機場建設珠海幫助過，為了全局，很多人都不了解。

　　珠海後來對澳門機場建設規劃建設性提修改意見。飛機升降從一個城市穿越另一個城市是不可以的。

珠海機場遭遇尷尬
　　
旁白：

　　進入21世紀後，珠澳合作更多提及，不少專家、學者亦出謀劃策。雙方機場廣受質疑，而珠海機場尷尬的現狀亦多次被媒體深入報導分析。

梁廣大回憶：

　　現在很多專家來珠海澳門，都說兩個地方那麼小，為什麼要建設兩個機場？這是在特定歷史背景下做出的決定。

　　珠海機場是經過了廣泛的調查研究提出的可行性方案：珠江西岸經濟儘管當時比不上東岸，但經濟發展還是比較快的。以高速公路一個小時計算，珠海、中山、江門等市覆蓋人口接近1500多萬，且江門又是重要僑鄉，國內進出澳門人口連年大幅增加。建國際機場是成熟的。

　　至於後期的客流量稀少問題，我認為主要是由於一些不當認識所誤。認為機場是企業，按照市場經濟規律辦事，不應該由政府負責。但是作為一個牽動全局的工程政府應該給予政策，給予權力，給予條件。實際上，我國除幾個大機場外，相當大一部分的機場建設都是由政府直接操作……政府撒手不管，相當於巧婦難為無米之炊。

　　機場建成後沒有及時開拓市場，沒有及時完善周邊城市交通配套，在周邊城市也沒有設立好候機樓、售票廳，也沒有巴士接送客人和貨物，十年來都沒有配上。相反，廣州白雲機場、深圳機場等為了開拓市場，在拱北口岸、九洲港口岸、吉大、香洲、前山、唐家等都建有候機樓，每天近100多個班次往返。珠海市委市政府去年把機場高速公路建設提上日程，大抓航空產業，建設機場高速公路，並在中山建設候機樓，但這已經耽誤了十多年了。

大事記
　　
2009年，國際金融海嘯後，粵港澳五大機場首腦對各自定位達成共識。珠海機場發展航空產業，而澳門將建構成為多功能中小型國際機場的範例。

2010年4月，首次在《粵港合作框架協議》從國家層面以政府綱領性文件加以明確。

同月，5大機場負責人聯合簽署了《大珠三角地區五機場持續落實<珠江三角洲改革發展規劃綱要>主席會議備忘錄》。

2010年5月，五機場首腦齊聚澳門，就細化合作領域、共拓珠三角空域、探討高鐵網對機場航空的影響、實現珠三角海陸空聯運等議題進行深入磋商。

2010年1月，澳門機場負責人拜訪珠海機場負責人。8月，珠海法制局、交通局等有關負責人拜訪澳門機場。

ad50939

October 16th, 2010, 05:04 AM

澳門自行興建機場是中葡兩國政府外交決策
新華澳報 2010/10/14

本欄昨日《關於珠澳機場兩篇報導的兩種不同態度》刊出後，有熟知澳門國際機場興建史的朋友致電筆者指出，梁廣大所說的「一九八九年五月，李鵬總理再到珠海視察，請新華社澳門分社社長李耀祺、顧問柯正平一齊來研究合作建機場事宜，當李耀祺說，澳葡當局對我們三個條件有看法，即跟外國簽航空協議時，需報我方批准；飛機進入我領空時，要向我方報告；只能民用不能軍用。澳門感到受到制約，對合作問題不表態，建機場的事情就這樣放下了。李鵬聽後總感覺欠妥，明確提出：你應該多做些工作，兩地合作建一個機場十分合適，選址好，各方面條件都合適，投資又少。跟澳葡指出，你們建不建，若不建珠海就不等了。」但在此之前，即一九八九年一月十八日，澳門國際機場專營公司已經成立，並於三月八日，由澳門政府與澳門國際機場專營公司簽訂澳門機場興建及經營的批給合約，政府也已批准了機場的總計劃。也就在梁廣大所指的「一九八九年五月」之後幾個月，澳門國際機場興建工程正式動工。因此可以說，此時澳門政府已在中葡雙方決策下，確定由澳門自行興建澳門國際機場，已經根本就不再存在所謂「研究合作建機場事宜」，及「跟澳葡指出，你們建不建，若不建珠海就不等了」的問題了。何況，「一九八九年五月」是什麼時空背景？正是北京天安門前最熱鬧的時刻，李鵬總理正坐鎮北京進行危機處理，還有甚麽閒情逸致專門跑到珠海為梁廣大的機場大計「背書」？還有，當時的新華社澳門分社社長是周鼎，李耀祺從來沒有任過這個職務，他只是任過澳門南光公司副總經理。後來因犯貪汙罪被判處死刑並已被處決，那是後話，

　　這個朋友所言，確屬事實。實際上，澳門自己單獨興建機場而不是由珠澳雙方合作興建機場的決策確定，還可向前推進兩年多。大家還可曾記得？在中葡兩國政府就澳門前途問題談判正順利進行之時，大約是在一九八六年的下半年，葡方突然提出要將交還澳門的時間往後拖延的訴求。葡方提出這個訴求，有幾個籍口。其中的一個理由，就是葡國管治澳門幾百年，並未能為澳門留下甚麼大型建設，希望能在交還澳門之前留下一些大型建設項目，包括國際機場等。但這需要多些時間，因而希望能將交還澳門的時間跨越二十世紀，延至二十一世紀。從葡方的這一態度就可確知，葡方要在澳門自行單獨興建國際機場，已經不單止是澳葡政府的決策，而且還已上升為葡國國策的層面，並將之作為在中葡談判中與中方進行討價還價的籌碼。

　　對此，中方進行了堅決的鬥爭，包括中方代表團團長，外交部副部長周南在結束訪問葡國時發表聲明重申：在二十世紀內收回澳門，實現祖國完全統一，是中國政府和包括澳門同胞在內的十億中國人民的不可動搖的堅定立場和強烈願望。葡方懾於中方的義正辭嚴，最後不得不同意在二零零零年之前交還澳門（具體日期是一九九九年十二月二十日）。而中方為了安撫葡方，也主動滿足了葡方某些合理的要求，包括支持澳門自行興建機場。北京後來之所以在澳門與珠海的「機場之爭」中，實行向澳門傾斜，就是出於這個政治和外交原因。因此，梁廣大向《南方都市報》所說的「直到一九八九年五月，中方仍在等待澳門同意雙方合作建設機場」，其實此時《中葡聯合聲明》已經簽署兩年多了。也就是說，中葡兩國政府作出由澳門自行興建機場的決策，已經超過了兩年。如果不是梁廣大記憶有誤，就是故意顛倒時間次序。

　　當然，北京之所以向澳門傾斜，全力支持澳門興建國際機場，除了是中方作為對葡方答允在二十世紀內交還澳門的回報之外，還因為澳門確實是需要一個機場。這就如鄧軍憶述時任國家民航總局局長的蔣祝平曾以工程師名義訪問澳門，在和馬萬祺、何厚鏵、吳福等當地知名人士會面，瞭解他們對機場的看法之後，不斷重複的一句話：「沒想到澳門人民也這麼希望建機場！」何況，就以澳門與珠海的重要性相比，也確定了北京必須向澳門傾斜：一、在政治上，澳門特別行政區的位階高於珠海經濟特區。前者關乎「一國兩制」的政治決策，是國家和平統一大業的一部份，而且無論是在葡治時期還是在回歸後，都是「省」一級的行政區劃；而後者則只是屬於國家內部事務，是改革開放事業的一部份，且在行政區劃上只是屬於「地級市」。二、在國際關係上，澳門興建國際機場有助提高其國際城市形象；而珠海則不是國際城市。三、在實務操作上，當時南非、韓國、以色列等重要國家尚未與中國建交，台灣方面也拒絕「三通」，珠海機場即使建好並被賦予國際機場的地位，也難以開闢上述航線；而澳門出於其獨特地位，可以開通上述航線，實際上澳門國際機場通航後，以「一機到底」方式往返海峽兩岸，為促進兩岸交流作出重大貢獻，珠海機場就根本不可能發揮這樣的作用。珠海當時一些人的某些想法，只不過是自我膨脹，把經濟特區的位階擺在特別行政區之上而已。

　　誠然，珠海確實也需要一個機場，但是否就要像「大躍進」時期「人有多大膽，地有多大產」的思維，不顧客觀規律來超前建設？則自有公論，實際上也已被實踐來檢驗。在這裡順道插一句，當年被喻為「中共第一支筆」的胡喬木很想到美國訪問，但美國駐華大使館認為他「左」而遲遲未有發出簽證。經過邀請單位「教路」，胡喬木在《人民日報》發表了一篇文章，以表達自己不「左」的心跡。該文的內容是，幹部參加工作時的時代背景氛圍，將影響其後一生的思維定勢。如在土地革命時期參加工作的幹部，階級鬥爭觀念特別強烈；在抗日戰爭時期參加工作的幹部，民族情緒特別高昂；在解放初期參加工作的幹部，經濟建設的思維特別活躍；在「大躍進」時期參加工作的幹部，假大空的思想表現特別嚴重。以「珠澳機場之爭」時珠海市領導幹部的年齡段來判斷，大致上是在「大躍進」時期參加工作的；比照胡喬木這篇文章的標準，他們受「大躍進」的影響應當不淺，故而才有「大躍進放衛星」式的珠海機場規模決策。

　　梁廣大的那篇訪談，迭迭不休地大談「珠海澳門合建機場磋商三輪無果」，並聲稱「一九九零年之後，合建與否，澳葡方面不了了之，大家亦不提不談。」大佬呀！一九九零年，那已是甚麼年月了？在此之前的一九八九年十二月八日，隨著氹仔雞頸山頭的一聲炮響，正式宣佈澳門國際機場正式動工。既然澳門機場已經興建，澳門還提那個「合邊與否」幹甚麼？如再提，豈非是無事挑釁？!現在梁廣大又炒這個話題，無非是要將珠海「被迫」要單獨興建機場的「責任」，推卸給「不願合建」的澳門而已。但這已不單只是澳葡政府的決策，更是中葡兩國政府在外交層次的決策。如再要埋怨，豈非是要否定當時正任國務院總理的李鵬的決策？！

hkskyline

October 18th, 2010, 05:55 PM

Macao's ex-budget airline president vows to launch luxury charter flights
18 October 2010

MACAO, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ngan In Leng, president of low-cost carrier Viva Macao that went bankrupt two months ago, planned to start his new aviation business focusing on luxury charter flights for well-heeled customers by the end of this year, the Macao Post Daily reported on Monday.

The newspaper quoted Ngan as saying that preparations for his new airline company were going "smoothly" and that he was just waiting for the planes to get his new aviation business off the ground.

According to Ngan, his new joint venture, which he said had already been approved by the government, will operate under an independent aviation license, unlike Viva Macao's sub-concession license granted by Air Macao.

Ngan, who briefed reporters about his new joint venture Saturday on the sidelines of a public function in Coloane, did not reveal any information on his joint-venture partners.

Established in 2005, Ngan's Viva Macao came to an abrupt end in March after failing to resolve payment issues with its local fuel supplier that left its fleet grounded, leading to a mass cancellation of flights.

Ngan kept mum on Viva Macao's overdue loan repayments to the government when asked about the case, adding that it was "in the courts now".

AsianDragons

October 19th, 2010, 03:42 AM

^^ I wonder about the money

ad50939

October 27th, 2010, 10:46 AM

珠海市升格及珠澳合建橫琴機場的利弊觀

中共政治局委員汪洋調任中共廣東省委書記後，提出了「繼續解放思想，堅持改革開放」的論述。這是繼當年鄧小平第二次「南巡」時，提出「思想再解放一點，步子再邁大一點」的論述之後，又一次掀起了解放思想的高潮。實際上，改革開放已經三十一年了，在未來的「繼續解放思想，堅持改革開放」的征程上，必須要有新的思路，思想要再解放一點，要有新的作為，為進一步改革開放創出一條新路。

在此情況下，近來圍繞著珠海特區發展及珠澳合作等問題上，內地和澳門的學者都有不少新的構思提出。其一是應將中山市的坦洲、神灣劃撥給珠海，消除珠海版圖被從中間割分為兩大塊的畸形狀態；其二是應將「澳大橫琴校園模式」擴展到整個橫琴，亦即是由澳門來管理橫琴；……等等，不一而足。

前日，被喻為「經濟特區研究權威」的深圳大學中國經濟特區研究中心主任、深圳大學經濟學院黨委書記鍾堅，應邀到珠海，在「深入貫徹胡錦濤總書記重要講話精神暨珠海經濟特區擴容後的思考和施政報告會」上作主題報告，提出了許多令到與會人士形容為「石破天驚，發人深省」的具體建議。其中最主要的，有珠海和澳門都撤掉各自的機場，在橫琴新區共同新建珠澳國際機場，及珠海與中山合併，借鑑當年深圳經驗，賦予新珠海市副省級行政待遇。

前一個構思，雖然大膽，但由於較早前珠海和澳門都有人提過，故尚不算新鮮。而後一個構思則是屬於「爆炸性」的，令到與會人員或目瞪口呆，或登時莞爾，現場好一陣交頭接耳、嗡嗡之聲響成一片。

關於珠海與中山合併組成新珠海市的構思，鍾堅指出，特區成立三十年，珠海在廣東二十一個地級市G D P排第十位，在珠三角九市中排名倒數第二。這就凸顯了珠海的經濟總量偏小，工業基礎不強，生產要素集中度不夠，就業和收入水準不高，影響吸引高端人才。因此，珠海現時「談轉型談不上」，等到珠海的G D P有三千億，財政收入有三百億，人口規模到了五百萬，才可以說完成起飛階段。要做到這一點，就必須將珠海與中山合併，組建新的珠海市。同時借鑒當年設立深圳市的經驗，賦予珠海市副省級城市行政待遇和省一級經濟管理許可權。兩地合併後，可以在更大的區域內實現資源配置，提升配置效率，加快新珠海發展速度的同時，亦可以帶動珠江西岸地區的飛速發展，珠海的西岸龍頭作用因此凸顯。

關於珠海和澳門共建橫琴新機場的構思，鍾堅則指出，目前澳門機場只有一條跑道，不能飛大飛機，客運量亦接近負荷上限；而珠海機場資源常年閒置，利用率只有百分之十左右。兼之兩地機場靠得太近，于航空安全管理方面亦提出了很大的挑戰。鐘堅說，雖說撤掉兩個現成的機場，難免有浪費之嫌，但由長遠看來，這卻是最經濟的方式，「在這個橫琴新機場修建一個快速幹道，實施免檢，那到澳門就會非常方便」。而這個新機場的帶動作用亦不可估量。至於成本，鐘堅估算說，新機場的投入完全可以通過舊機場的土地置換回來。

鍾堅的這兩個構思，都有其可取之處。確實，珠海經濟特區雖然是獲得了擴容，但整個珠海的經濟實力仍將有所局限。而珠海機場目前負擔甚重，日常運作開支與客流量不成正比。有人指望在珠三角快速交通網建成後，可以吸引其他地區的旅客來珠海機場。但珠三角快速交通網建成後，去廣州機場也是差不多的路程。而廣州機場每條航線每天都有多個航班，即使趕不上這個航班，還有下一個航班；而珠海各條航線的航班則較少，甚至是每天只有一班，以至是隔幾天才有一班，旅客如未能趕到上就會變成「過了這村沒下店」，仍是並不樂觀。

澳門機場則正好相反，面臨無法擴容的問題。廣州、香港機場都可以增建第三條跑道，澳門要增建多一條跑道就十分困難。如果澳門完全貫徹落實《珠三角改革發展綱要》所賦予的「世界旅遊休閑中心」定位，及發展成國際會展中心，外來遊客就會增多，澳門機場就無法與之相適應。因此，珠澳合建橫琴機場，不失為一個解決上述問題的雙贏的辦法。

但是，這兩個構思仍將會遇到新問題。一、珠海與中山合併後，在稱謂問題上究竟是「屈從」中山還是遷就珠海？珠海市的官民似是希望能繼續叫「珠海」，鍾堅也是稱「新珠海」。由於珠海是經濟特區，而全國就只有五個經濟特區，在全中國以至全世界都已叫順了口。而且，《珠三角改革發展綱要》規定，珠江口西岸地區發展是以珠海市為核心，以佛山、江門、中山、肇慶市為節點，也就是「以珠海為主」，再叫「珠海」理所當然。

但問題是，在政治上尤其是在國家統一大業上，叫「中山」更具理由。實際上，中山市乃是偉大的革命先行者孫中山先生的故里，為了紀念這位「國父」才於一九二五年將香山縣改為「中山縣」的，當時還沒有珠海，珠海是在上世紀五十年代從中山劃分出去的。而在中國，以人名作地名的並不多，除中山之外，只有志丹縣、左權縣、靖宇县、尚志縣及子長縣等。為遷就珠海而「殺中山」，對國家統一大業不利，海外華僑也接受不了。

再說，以面積、人口以至是經濟實力計，中山都是「大哥」，珠海只是「小弟」，沒有理由是由「大哥」來遷就「小弟」的。再從歷史淵源看，珠海就是從中山分拆出來的，現在都要「反噬」珠海，沒有道理。

二、關於在橫琴合作建機場問題，對珠海，最大的功能是可以解除負擔。但至於鍾堅所說的可以釋出土地，對珠海的作用則不大，因為現在珠海機場所在的西區，仍有許多土地沒有使用，這與深圳、東莞的土地開發已經飽和，正好相反。

而且，還將面臨一個問題，就是珠海機場的土地根本不可能開發。這是因為，《珠三角改革發展綱要》規定，珠海要加快建設航空產業園，如果撤銷珠海機場，就將使其失去依托。另外，珠海市過去搞的幾個品牌，「國際一級大賽車」、「國際電影節」等未能保留，只有「國際航展」可以繼續。如撤銷珠海機場，「國際航展」就將「皮之不存，毛將焉附」。

對澳門來說當然是可以起到釋出土地的作用。這對土地資源緊缺，土地開發飽和的澳門來說，是一大佳音。但也並非沒有問題。就是機場跑道方向，按照橫琴的地形，是於一南一北有大、小橫琴山，機場跑道方向就不可能是南北向，而只能是東西向。這就必然會使澳門遇到「噪音」問題，亦即對金光大道和作為路環郊野公園形成噪音干擾。想當年珠海就為澳門機場的「噪音」問題鬧了很大的動靜，現在也應不能「己所不欲，強加於人」。

還有稱謂問題，鍾堅所定位的「珠澳國際機場」是欠妥的。其一是位階，澳門是省級行政區劃的特別行政區，珠海則是地級市的經濟特區，即使能升格也只是副省級，低於澳門。其二是機場使用，澳門多於珠海，國際航線也主要是為了澳門，因而估計機場的運作費用，將由澳門「包起」，故應是稱「澳珠機場」。

其實，澳門過去已作出讓步，包括「港珠澳大橋」、「珠澳跨境工業區」。但總不能如此「大珠海，小澳門」下去吧？

hkskyline

November 4th, 2010, 12:55 PM

Budget Carriers to Challenge Larger Rivals on Int'l Routes
29 October 2010
Chosun Ilbo

Five years after they burst onto the scene, domestic budget carriers are turning up the heat on larger airlines by launching international flights. Jeju Air, Korea's biggest budget airline, said on Wednesday it plans to start flying between Incheon and Hong Kong, taking on Korean Air currently operating 23 flights and Asiana Airlines 14 on the route. While Jeju Air will offer only three flights per week, it aims to lure passengers with fares at least 30 percent lower than those of its larger rivals. Jin Air on Tuesday launched service from Incheon to Clark in the Philippines, pushing into a route previously served solely by Asiana. A Jin Air spokesperson said that the flights would run at night and early morning to differentiate from Asiana, which flies during the day. The new service is targeted at tourists, especially those on golf trips. Jeju Air also plans to launch flights to Manila on Nov. 24 and Macau on Nov. 29.

In addition, it will find itself going head-to-head with another budget carrier, Air Busan, when they both debut flights between Busan and the Philippine resort city of Cebu on Nov. 25 and Dec. 23, respectively. Foreign budget carriers are fueling the competition. Business Air Thailand has already launched Incheon-Bangkok service, while Malaysia's AirAsia, the region's largest low-cost carrier, will start operations connecting Incheon with Kuala Lumpur next month. By the end of the year, larger airlines and budget carriers are expected to be competing on 10 international routes. In the first nine months of the year, domestic budget carriers transported a combined 632,000 passengers on international routes, accounting for 3.18 percent of the total 19.895 million international passengers. The figure has quadrupled from 0.75 percent last year.

hkskyline

December 31st, 2010, 04:03 AM

Air Macau starts services at Changi
30 December 2010
The Shipping Times

(SINGAPORE) Changi Airport has announced that it will welcome Air Macau on board from Jan 3 - the first carrier to join Changi's growing network of airlines in 2011.

Air Macau is a full-service carrier, operating twice every week. Offering passenger services to Macau on Airbus A321 aircraft with a capacity of 178 passengers in a two-class configuration, the carrier will operate at Changi Terminal 2.

Air Macau is offering a three-month, one-for-one promotion for return business class fares at $1,999 for a pair of tickets to celebrate its commencement of operations at Changi Airport. The promotion period is from now until March 28.

In 2010, nine new airlines commenced operations at Changi Airport. The two most recent are Philippine carrier Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAIR) and Moscow-based Transaero Airlines, both of which commenced flights to Changi Airport earlier this month.

With the addition of Air Macau, the Singapore- Macau route will be served by three carriers operating a total of 32 flights a week, the other two being Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways.

Changi Airport currently serves a total of 101 airlines operating more than 5,200 scheduled flights each week, connecting Singapore to over 200 cities in 60 countries and territories.

bonaqua

January 12th, 2011, 02:35 PM

Hopefully Air Macau will reinstate Macau-Manila flights again despite the competition.

Muchenyi

January 20th, 2011, 08:42 AM

Hopefully Air Macau will reinstate Macau-Manila flights again despite the competition.

If they keep avoiding the crashes as they have been doing till today, its already an achievement!

hkskyline

January 21st, 2011, 07:42 PM

Macau International Airport recorded stable performance in 2010
2011-01-13
Macau Airport Press Release

Macau International Airport (MIA) in 2010 faced a series of challenges in operation, such as the impacts of the fluctuation of oil prices, the political instability of Thailand, the increasing cross-strait direct flight services, and the closing of Viva Macau. Despite of these, MIA still delivered 4,078,836 passengers in 2010. Although the passenger throughputs at MIA were down 4% compared with 2009, the destination passengers, occupying 93% of total passenger volume, rose 3% against 2009 and the mainland visitor number registered a 12% yearly increase. The decrease in passenger throughputs at MIA is due to the increase of cross-strait flight and destination. These result in a sharp decrease by 50% in transit passengers compared with year 2009. MIA handled 52,148 tons cargos as is almost the same compared with 2009, and had 37,148 flight movements with 8.7% decrease year-on-year.

In 2010, MIA was progressive and constant in adjusting the marketing strategy by seeking the new airlines, exploring the new markets, and developing new flight destinations to open the new service to Macau. MIA successfully attracted four new airlines to serve more destinations. The launch by Air China in January connected Macau to Wuhan, Mandala Airlines to serve Jakarta in July; China Eastern Airlines further serves Shanghai and Jin Air to Seoul in December. The existing airlines Cebu Pacific Air also added Tuguegarao and Laoag respectively. Xiamen airlines opened Macau to Jinjiang. The flag carrier Air Macau since last year opened three destinations including Singapore, Ningbo and Hefei. All these efforts made MIA a 3% increase of destination passengers compared with 2009, occupying 93% of MIA’s total passengers. The passenger number of mainland China had a 12% increase comparing with the earlier year. These indicate that MIA has finished its strategic transformation from transit airport to destination airport. MIA’s cargo service quality was also confirmed by industries. MIA was awarded “The Best Emerging Airport” by Cargo news Asia and “2010 Air Cargo - Award of Excellence” by Air Cargo World in 2010.

Looking into 2011, MIA will explore the medium long haul routes including Australia and India. To attract more new airlines and add frequency to those target markets from North Eastern, North western and the mid of China, so that to reinforce the market in South China. MIA will continually support the airlines to add new routes and destinations, improve the seat factor and load factor for the existing aircraft, and build new virtual cargo stations. These focuses will achieve an increase of both passengers and cargo at MIA.

With the gradual recovery of the global economy and the position of Macau as an international travel and leisure center, MIA is constantly following the policy of Macau SAR to strengthen the co-operation with aviation companies and tourist industry to achieve the joint development in exploration of more potential markets. It will make continuous efforts and contributions to the sustainable development of aviation, tourism and the whole economy of Macau.

Muchenyi

January 25th, 2011, 04:28 AM

A bit off topic but...

Air Macau workers lodge complaints with Labour Bureau

Following recent reports of pilots leaving Air Macau due to labour and safety concerns, Macau Daily Times has learned that last year two Air Macau employees lodged complaints against the company with the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL).
According to the DSAL, it received two complaints against Macau’s flagship airline in 2010. The two employees involved mentioned labour disputes related to annual leave, mandatory holidays, suspension of work, lay-off compensation and fee for repatriation.
The bureau did not provide further information on specific cases, citing that it “involves the privacy of individuals”. The MDTimes tried to get a comment from Air Macau, but the company’s spokesperson said she had no information on the situation.
By e-mail, the spokesperson added that “Air Macau has always acted in compliance with all legal/labour requirements. The two cases you mentioned probably concerns with different understanding of the law and I believe similar labour disputes also exist in any other companies.”
Recently, Portuguese language newspaper Hoje Macau reported that last year 10 pilots left the company due to labour and safety issues. However, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a public event earlier this month, the air carrier’s executive committee president Zheng Yan denied these allegations.
He said that the employees “had their own selection of choice to transferred to other airlines, because pilots are still a scarce resource in the whole industry. So they have the right to make their own selection.”
Pilots also accused Air Macau of forcing them to spend too much time outside of Macau. Zheng said that the company has no regulations against that and ensured that that it is normal procedure for airline operations.

in macaudailytimes.com

... this Air Macau management is a shame! Shame on them!

Muchenyi

January 27th, 2011, 05:27 AM

Here it is ... as expected :lol::lol::lol:

Air Macau engine catches fire

An engine of an Air Macau Airbus A321 caught fire late on Tuesday at the Macau International Airport during testing, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported yesterday.

The news agency quoted a source from the airline saying that the aircraft was being tested after maintenance work, and added that firefighters had to be called to the airport.

According to the source, only the maintenance staff was on board the plane at the time. Nevertheless, the plane will have to be grounded since the engine is damaged, Lusa wrote.

The Macau Daily Times contacted Air Macau’s spokesperson, but she did not confirm the incident. Instead, the spokeswoman said that yesterday all aircrafts were in normal operation, downplaying concerns. If something happened it “was not a serious problem,” she added.

However, the local Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) yesterday requested a full report from the carrier. “We have asked Air Macau for a full report that afterwards will be analysed by our experts, before taking any particular action,” a spokesperson from AACM told Lusa.

Former employees have been criticising the company because of safety issues. Recently, Portuguese language newspaper Hoje Macau reported that last year 10 pilots left the company due to labour and safety issues.

However, the company has always denied such allegations. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a public event earlier this month, Air Macau’s executive committee president Zheng Yan said he had no figures on the number of pilots who left the company last year, but refuted any accusations.
“This is a very regulated industry and obviously you have to follow regulations,” he stressed.

Let's wait till one of Air Macau bees ends up in the floor... soon than we expect.

hkskyline

March 30th, 2011, 12:53 PM

Spring Airlines Flying to Macau
16 March 2011

SHANGHAI, March 16, SinoCast -- Spring Airlines, China's first low-cost air carrier, March 15 announced its entry into Macau's aviation market with the lowest-priced air tickets sold at CNY 199 or MOP 199.

From April 8, the air carrier will formally start a daily two-way flight service between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Macau International Airport, with the support of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the Civil Aviation Authority of Macau, and Macau International Airport Co., Ltd.

Spring Airlines, headquartered in Shanghai, east China, will serve passengers with the 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft model on the new route. It will try to attract more tourists to Macau with low-priced air tickets.

In June 2009, the Shanghai-based air carrier announced that it got the permission to fly between Mainland China and Hong Kong, Macao, and several neighboring countries. Moreover, the CAAC allowed the Chinese private air carrier to apply for international flights from mainland cities outside Shanghai.

mrfusion

March 31st, 2011, 02:47 AM

Blackraven

April 1st, 2011, 07:55 AM

shouldn't they renovate this airport already?

hkskyline

April 1st, 2011, 06:40 PM

this is very good price, the ferry between HK/Macau is more then that.

how much it is from Shanghai to HK now?

Here's an article excerpt from when Spring launched HKG :

Spring Airlines gears up to challenge peers on key route
28 September 2010
Copyright 2010 China Daily Information Company. All Rights Reserved.

Spring Airlines, China's only low-cost carrier, starts Shanghai-Hong Kong services on Sept 28, challenging China Eastern Airlines Corp and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd on flights between the nation's two financial hubs.

The carrier, whose executives share hotel rooms and eat instant noodles on business trips to cut costs, is offering round-trip tickets to Shanghai's Pudong Airport from Hong Kong for as little as $117.60, including fees, on its website. That's less than half the price charged by China Eastern and Cathay Pacific, the largest airlines in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

"A budget carrier like us aims to meet demand from ordinary, cost-conscious people," Chairman Wang Zhenghua said in an e-mailed response to questions last week. "There are so many in China that I see huge potential for our future."

Oasis-Bangkok

June 19th, 2011, 03:47 PM

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2591/5763871640_20bab3c642_b.jpg

NuncaPior

September 13th, 2011, 05:41 AM

Local infrastructure may not survive the regional integration plan

In the meantime, in an interview with Portuguese news agency Lusa, former airport director José Carlos Angeja said ADA’s contract with CAM was not renewed, after 16 years of operation, due to a political decision.
“What happened cannot be justified with a poorly provided service, overspending or inefficient provision of operational services […] it was essentially a political decision,” he said.

He continued: “The decision [of not renewing the contract with ADA] was taken at CAM’s general meeting, of which the government is the major shareholder [55 percent], so it had to be a political [one].”
CAM paid MOP 45 million for the acquisition of ADA, according to a MDTime’s source. This means the de facto owner of the airport has obtained the property rights of the certifications and procedures that belonged to ADA.

However, Angeja stressed that ANA regards Macau as a strategic location due to its proximity to mainland China and is looking at opportunities to continue to contribute its know-how to the development of the local civil aviation. According to Angeja, Macau lacks knowledge in this field, especially now that the whole Pearl River Delta region wants to develop as one.

However, he believes that the MSAR airport may not survive regional integration. “Macau’s air space is small, congested and I think these factors can be taken into consideration and that may radically change the plans for the airport,” he said, adding that this decision could had been already taken or eventually decided by authorities in the Mainland.
As for the airport expansion project, which estimates that the airport will meet a volume of 5.6 million passengers in 2015, seven million in 2020, 11 million in 2030 and lastly 15 million in 2039, Angeja expressed strong scepticism.

He called the project “extremely ambitious” questioning if it is really essential, since “the majority of tourists, 80 to 85 percent, don’t use the airport and come to Macau by land.”

in MacauDailytimes.com.mo

How about Macau without airport like the old days?

SanchezInsulationGZ

September 23rd, 2011, 08:30 AM

Here it is ... as expected :lol::lol::lol:

Let's wait till one of Air Macau bees ends up in the floor... soon than we expect.

I don't have a very good experience with Air Macau. I flew once to Seoul and one the way back my flight was canceled due to fog, although all of the other flights at the same time frame departed (sth like 10-15 flights). I was told by the airline that the pilot classification of Air Macau wasn't allowed to fly in those conditions... :ohno:

NuncaPior

October 6th, 2011, 09:40 AM

Timor Airlines eyes MSAR

Newly created Timor-Leste Airlines (TAL) wants to connect Macau to Sydney, with a stopover in Díli, said the company’s chief executive officer Vasco Carrascalão da Silva.
TAL will start flying in early 2012 with two aircrafts but has plans to buy five more in the following two years, he told Portuguese-language newspaper Hoje Macau. There is “a real interest” from local businessmen in investing on TAL, Carrascalão da Silva said.
There are currently no direct flights from Macau to East Timor or Australia, after low-cost Viva Macau – who flew to Sydney and Melbourne – filed for bankruptcy last year.

in Macaudailytimes.com.mo

Boas notícias sem dúvidas. If this comes true...

horlick97

October 6th, 2011, 04:59 PM

I hope Macau will continue to have a viable airport. HKIA is facing great pressure to expand. Macau airport can potentially provide some capacity to relieve that pressure, especially with its good and seamless direct HKIA to Macau ferry link.
When the bridge is completed, hope this link will even be better, thus making Macau Airport even more viable.

NuncaPior

October 7th, 2011, 05:32 AM

There are rumours that the Macau Airport will not surive to the Pearl River expansion. A lot of pressure to make Zhuhai Airport as the prime airport in the area.

NuncaPior

October 12th, 2011, 07:02 AM

Seems Chinese Air Force was about to shot down one of Air Macau planes this week as it was flying without communications for more than one hour. Further information soon.

NuncaPior

October 12th, 2011, 10:04 PM

The history of the ghost flight...

Air Macau | Companhia coloca em questão segurança nacional da China

Aconteceu no dia 1 de Outubro e é muito grave. A Air Macau esteve envolvida numa falha de comunicações no voo de ‘wet-lease’ Pequim – Hong Kong, que colocou em questão a segurança nacional da China. Tanto a CAAC como a AACM já pediram à companhia o gravador de comunicações do cockpit. A tripulação do voo CCA101 está agora apeada e surge a forte possibilidade de a Air China saltar do barco

Comemorava-se o Dia Nacional da República Popular da China e o voo CCA101 de Pequim para Hong Kong – operado pela Air China em ‘wet-lease’ com a Air Macau – colocou em perigo a segurança nacional com a perda de comunicações em fase de voo cruzeiro. A Autoridade de Aviação Civil de Macau (AACM) confirmou tudo. “A Air Macau comunicou à AACM que o voo CCA101 de Pequim para Hong Kong perdeu comunicação com o controlo de tráfego aéreo de Zhengzhou e Cantão durante aproximadamente uma hora e na fase de voo de cruzeiro”, disse a entidade ao Hoje Macau.

Passageiros que estavam nesse voo confirmaram ao Hoje Macau que tudo o que aconteceu depois da aterragem em Hong Kong foi digno de filme de Hollywood. Avião selado, autoridades em polvorosa, tripulação escoltada pela polícia. “Parecia algo só visto num filme. O avião chegou e foi logo alvo das autoridades. Assustei-me e nem percebi o que se possa ter passado”, referiu um dos passageiros, desconhecendo o porquê da azáfama.

O Hoje Macau pediu mais esclarecimentos à AACM e, nesse sentido, a autoridade explicou como tudo se passou depois do incidente. “A pedido da Administração da Aviação Civil da China [CAAC, na sigla inglesa] e da AACM, a Air Macau enviou o gravador de comunicações da cabina de pilotagem [Cockpit Voice Recorder – CVR] e o registador digital de parâmetros de voo [Digital Flight Data Recorder – DFDR] à CAAC para fins de descodificação.”

Pessoas ligadas ao meios aeronáuticos afirmaram, entretanto, que se tal acontecesse no sentido contrário – Hong Kong para Pequim – o avião podia até ter sido abatido. Um ex-piloto foi mais longe e referiu que “a Air China já está a rever muito seriamente a sua parceria com a Air Macau”.

Tripulação apeada

Alegadamente a tripulação envolvida no incidente está impedida de voar, pelo menos até findas as investigações. O avião em questão teria de voltar a Pequim com a mesma tripulação e as autoridades chinesas impediram que isso acontecesse, o que fez com que a Air Macau tivesse de enviar nova tripulação de Macau para Hong Kong, atrasando o voo.

A AACM não se alongou muito nesta questão apenas referindo que “a Air Macau informou ainda que a respectiva tripulação permanecerá em terra a fim de prestar todo o apoio na investigação”.

O relatório da descodificação do CVR e o DFDR foi entretanto finalizado e enviado pela Air Macau à AACM, que está agora a analisar o mesmo.

A AACM acrescentou ainda que “a comunicação desta ocorrência foi feita de acordo com o Sistema de Comunicação Obrigatória de Ocorrências. Uma vez que o relatório final da investigação ainda não está concluído, não é possível ainda apresentar conclusões quanto às causas e factores contributivos desta ocorrência. A AACM irá solicitar à Air Macau a continuação da investigação e a submissão do relatório final da investigação dentro de um mês ou, se tal não for possível, a submissão de informação actualizada sobre esta ocorrência dentro do mesmo prazo.”

A Air Macau foi contactada durante a tarde de ontem mas até ao final do dia ficou de enviar uma resposta o que não aconteceu.

Scary...

hkskyline

October 14th, 2011, 08:50 AM

Do you have a source and an English version?

NuncaPior

October 15th, 2011, 10:43 AM

Do you have a source and an English version?

The source is the newspaper HOJE MACAU and as far as I know they don't have any English version. We all get used that Portuguese papers are the only free press in town and the favourite of the non-Govt elected lawmakers.

Anyway basically it says one of Air Macau planes (Beijing-Hong Kong) leased by Air China has been for more than 1 hours without communications (technical failure). When they landed in Hong Kong, the whole crew got "friendly arrested" for further investigation by the Chinese authorities (CAAC) and is not allowed to flight until the whole situation is clear.

hkskyline

October 16th, 2011, 07:02 AM

The source is the newspaper HOJE MACAU and as far as I know they don't have any English version. We all get used that Portuguese papers are the only free press in town and the favourite of the non-Govt elected lawmakers.

Anyway basically it says one of Air Macau planes (Beijing-Hong Kong) leased by Air China has been for more than 1 hours without communications (technical failure). When they landed in Hong Kong, the whole crew got "friendly arrested" for further investigation by the Chinese authorities (CAAC) and is not allowed to flight until the whole situation is clear.

Thanks. But I didn't think mainland authorities have any jurisdiction over Hong Kong, so there is no way their agents could make any "arrest" in Hong Kong. If anything, it would've been the local AA or even the police making the arrest.

NuncaPior

October 16th, 2011, 12:41 PM

They were arrested by the meaning the law. They were "invited to stay" for further investigation. You know what I meant.

The rumours in Macau say Air China is less and less happier with Air Macau...

NuncaPior

October 19th, 2011, 11:29 AM

Govt to inject MOP42 million into Air Macau

The Macau government is set to increase its stake in Air Macau by injecting MOP42
million (US$5.25 million) in cash in the company through an increase in issued share
capital.

A shareholder meeting will be held on November 3 to approve the move, according to
today’s Official Gazette.

Air China is Air Macau’s biggest shareholder, currently holding an 80.86 percent
stake in the company.

STDM is the second biggest shareholder (14 percent), followed by the Macau
government, currently with a 5 percent stake.

With the capital injection, the government will become Air Macau’s second biggest
shareholder, with 520,420 ordinary shares or 21.5 percent.

The increase in the issued share capital of Air Macau can only be exclusively
subscribed to by the government.

in Macau Business

Govt still believes...

NuncaPior

October 27th, 2011, 11:20 AM

AIR ASIA PRETENDE NEGOCIAR NOVAS ROTAS COM AEROPORTO DE MACAU
Clark e Tóquio a algumas taxas de distância
A companhia de baixo custo AirAsia, depois de um período de desinvestimento em Macau, quer criar pelo menos mais duas novas rotas, para Clark, nas Filipinas, e para a capital nipónica. Mas está dependente das taxas a serem cobradas pelo aeroporto da RAEM. A empresa anuncia ainda mais um voo diário para a capital tailandesa
http://www.jtm.com.mo/news/20111027/news_images/27_03_01.jpg
O Aeroporto Internacional de Macau (AIM) pode ganhar rotas de baixo custo para as Filipinas e para o Japão em breve. A AirAsia está interessada em voltar a apostar na RAEM, depois de vários meses a cortar nesse investimento, mas a concretização do negócio está dependente das taxas aeroportuárias a serem cobradas, e que têm sido consideradas elevadas pela companhia. Caso não haja acordo, já há outras opções em carteira: voar a partir de Hong Kong ou de Shenzhen, segundo confirmou ao JTM a directora-adjunta da AirAsia para a China, Celia Lao.
Actualmente, a companhia de baixo custo opera directamente para dois destinos a partir do AIM: Banguecoque, na Tailândia, e Kuala Lumpur, na Malásia. Já para Dezembro, está previsto o aumento da frequência diária de voos para a capital tailandesa, de três para quatro ligações. “A procura é cada vez maior, e durante os meses de Agosto e Setembro a taxa de ocupação das aeronaves cresceu cerca de 10 por cento, atingindo os 90 por cento”, um valor que deixa a empresa optimista, segundo refere Celia Lao. Neste momento, o único factor que pode condicionar o reforço desta ligação são as cheias na Tailândia (ver peça abaixo). “Se entretanto a situação melhorar arranca já, caso contrário só em Janeiro do próximo ano”.
Os próximos investimentos do grupo malaio estão, no entanto, dependentes das negociações a serem iniciadas com os responsáveis do AIM. A AirAsia planeia já, para o início de 2011, “antes do Ano Novo chinês”, segundo Celia Lao, a criação de uma rota para Clark, nos arredores da capital das Filipinas. Segundo a mesma responsável, o objectivo é manter pelo menos um voo diário. “O aeroporto de Macau tem cobrado muito pelas novas rotas. Vamos negociar, mas se os preços se mantiverem altos podemos mudar para outro destino”, avisou a director-adjunta, confirmando que as opções passam pelos aeroportos em Hong Kong e Shenzhen.
A outra rota que interessa à companhia aérea liga a RAEM a Tóquio. Em Julho deste ano foi formalmente criada a AirAsia Japan, que neste momento aguarda os certificados de voo para poder começar a operar. “Há potencial em explorar uma ligação aérea entre estes dois locais. Mas neste momento ainda estamos a planear tudo, pelo que se tal vier a acontecer nunca deverá ser antes do final do próximo ano”, avança a mesma fonte. E também neste caso, a concretização da operação vai depender de negociações com o AIM.
“MONOPÓLIO” DA AIR MACAU CRITICADO. Uma crítica que tem sido feita pelos responsáveis desta empresa, e que Celia Lao volta a repetir, prende-se com “o monopólio que existe no aeroporto de Macau e que nós continuamos à espera que acabe, porque a Air Macau tem sido muito beneficiada”, vinca a directora-adjunta. O CEO da AirAsia, Tony Fernandes, já tinha dito o mesmo em Janeiro de 2008, criticando duramente a mentalidade dos responsáveis da companhia aérea de Macau, avessa à concorrência e que acaba por “inviabilizar a expansão do mercado” e “abertura de novas rotas”. O resultado foi claro: a empresa deixou de investir em novas ligações a partir do território e começou a operar voos a partir de Chep Lap Kok, em Hong Kong. Celia Lao explicou em Março deste ano que a opção pela região vizinha, apesar das taxas serem mais elevadas, acabava por compensar porque o mercado era maior e os clientes também tinham um maior poder de compra.
O desinvestimento da empresa em Macau tornou-se mais claro ainda após serem conhecidos os dados relativos aos primeiros seis meses de 2011, e que o JTM avançou. Nesse período, em média, houve menos 7.934 passageiros por mês a desembarcar ou a embarcar em Macau via AirAsia, o que representa uma queda de 13,4 por cento. No total, a companhia tinha transportado nesse período cerca de 310 mil passageiros.
A empresa malaia foi a primeira companhia de baixo custo a operar no AIM, a partir de Março de 2004. Já chegou a haver rotas a ligar o território e cinco destinos na Malásia (Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching e Penang), para além da capital tailandesa. Tinha sido prometida também uma ligação directa para Phuket, mas que nunca passou disso mesmo. Essa rota existe a partir de Hong Kong.
Actualmente, a companhia liga 132 destinos, com uma frota de 90 aviões, e possui várias subsidiárias, como a Thai AirAsia e Indonesia AirAsia. Dados avançados anteontem pela Bloomberg indicam que a empresa transportou mais 13,5 por cento de passageiros no terceiro trimestre deste ano, em comparação com o período homólogo. Em Setembro, segundo dados globais que a AirAsia disponibilizou, o tráfego de passageiros subiu 8,8 por cento, mas a taxa de ocupação das aeronaves escorregou dos 80 por cento do ano anterior para os 78 por cento.

in Jornal Tribuna de Macau

Air Asia wants new routes if Macau Airport reduces the Airport taxes.