“Macau International Airport recorded more than 750,000 passengers in the first quarter of 2023, representing an annual increase of 1.7 times,” CAM (Macau International Airport Society) said in a statement.
Regarding the number of flights, the airport of the special administrative region saw an increase of 57%, with more than 6,900 connections made in the first three months of the year.
The daily average of passengers and flights totaled 10,000 and 100, respectively.
“The full resumption of permits to fly in Macau has directly driven the increase in passengers,” the society stressed.
The strict ‘zero covid’ policy adopted by China, including by the special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong, had for nearly three years limited the movement of tourists and residents of the territory.
“Airlines are gradually resuming flight operations and increasing the number of flights,” CAM said, stressing that “in the second quarter,” the airport will “engage in the development of new destinations.”
In April, air links suspended during the covid-19 pandemic will be resumed, namely to Osaka, Japan, and Cebu and Clark, Philippines, “with 14 international routes in early summer.”
With the increase in the volume of routes and flights, the Macau airport will “provide more diversified sources of tourists” and “promote the economic recovery and development of tourism in Macau,” the statement said.
Following the opening of Macau after the pandemic, the Ho Iat Seng government proposed to diversify the visitor market, requiring gaming operators in the territory to focus on other visitor markets besides mainland China.
CAM noted that 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.”
With information from Lusa