UP, UP AND AWAY

2014/11/10

From：Macau Business Daily

It’s on the up. Macau International Airport handled over 460,000 passengers last month. The 12 percent increase eclipsed last year’s Y-O-Y growth rate.

Macau International Airport handled over 460,000 passengers last month, representing an increase that outpaced the growth rate that the airport saw in the same period last year.
According to the latest statement by Macau International Airport Company Ltd (CAM), the number of passengers the airport handled in October represented a 12 percent year-on-year rise, compared to the 8 percent registered in the same month last year.
The increase in October’s passenger volume approximates that of aircraft movement, which recorded a 12 percent yearly rise to around 4,600.
The growth seen in airport passengers in October was partly boosted by the traffic brought by China’s National Day holiday in the first week of the month, for which CAM noted that the airport handled a total of 74,000 passengers from October 1-5, a rise of 17 percent compared to the same period last year.
Currently, mainland Chinese visitors account for 37 percent of all passenger movements, while visitors from southeast and northeast Asia occupy another 36 percent – the two major sources of visitors for which CAM expects to see steady growth this month. The remaining 27 percent of visitors are from Taiwan.
The over 4.5 million passengers the local airport handled in the first ten months of this year means that CAM has already achieved a significant number of the overall target for 2014, as the airport operator expected to handle 5.1 million passengers for the whole year with a target revenue of MOP960 million (US$120 million).
While the local airport is close to achieving its yearly target for private jet volume of 2,500, it has already surpassed the 2,161 business aircraft movements registered last year.

Late completion

At a business aviation forum held on Friday, Cui Guang, director of the logistics and general aviation development department at CAM, said the company anticipates 2,500 business aircraft movements for 2014, which would represent a 25 percent growth compared to last year.
However, Mr. Cui noted a delay in the completion of the new private jet hangar, originally expected to be in use this year. He did not specify what construction problems were causing the delay but said that the new date for its completion is March 2015.
In addition, the airport operator told Business Daily that private jet operators can expect a new company undertaking the FBO (fixed-base operator) service – known as the ground handling works – by the first quarter of next year, alongside the existing long-time operator Macau Business Aviation Centre.
The airport operator is also currently in talks with a MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) operator over service contract terms, which would be the first time such an operator is introduced here to provide private jet maintenance service. The new MRO operator is expected to start its service next year, CAM added.

Copyright@Macau Business Daily