The number of passengers passing through Macau International Airport (AIM) in the first quarter of the year was almost triple that of the same period a year earlier, the company that manages the airport said on Thursday.
“Macau International Airport registered more than 750,000 passengers in the first quarter of 2023, which represents an annual increase of 1.7 times,” CAM – Sociedade do Aeroporto Internacional de Macau said in a statement.
In terms of the number of flights, the main airport in the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) saw a rise of 57%, with over 6,900 take-offs and landings in the first three months of the year.
The daily average of passengers and flights was around 10,000 and 100, respectively, the statement said.
“The full resumption of authorisations to fly in Macau has directly driven the increase in passengers,” the company stressed, referring to the end of the strict ‘zero covid’ policy adopted by China, including by the SARs of Macau and Hong Kong, which for almost three years had limited the movement of tourists and residents into the territory.
“Airlines are gradually resuming flight operations and increasing the number of flights,” CAM stressed, adding that, “in the second quarter,” the airport will “engage in the development of new destinations.”
In April, air links that were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic will be resumed, namely to Osaka, in Japan, and Cebu and Clark, in the Philippines, “with a total of 14 international routes at the beginning of summer,” the company said in its statement.
With the increased volume of routes and flights, Macau airport will “provide more diversified sources of tourists” and “promote the economic recovery and development of tourism in Macau,” it added.
Following the opening up of Macau after the pandemic, the government led by chief executive Ho Iat Seng proposed diversifying the tourism sector, demanding that the territory’s casino operators focus on other visitor markets besides mainland China.
In line with that, CAM said it will “actively explore potential medium and long-term charter routes and focus on coordinating with Government policy” to “strengthen the development of international routes.”
