Jetstar to end Singapore flights

Budget airlines Jetstar will stop flying between Macau and Singapore starting February 6 after the number of passengers dropped significantly last year, the local aviation regulator confirmed.
The Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) told Portuguese-language newspaper Tribuna de Macau that Jetstar would drop the Singapore route “for commercial reasons”.
Last year the low-cost airline carried about 79,600 people in this route, 12,500 less than in 2010. This 13.8 percent drop took the passenger figures below the 82,100 registered by Jetstar in 2008, the first year it flew to Macau.
Despite the decision made by the subsidiary of Australian giant Qantas, there are two other airlines currently connecting the territory to Singapore: Tiger Airways and Air Macau.
On the other hand, there are two carriers eyeing the local airport, AACM added. One of them is low-cost Thai Smile, a subsidiary of Thai Airways that should begin operations in July, and the other is Taipei-based Mandarin Airline. But no formal request has been filed so far, the authority said.
Meanwhile almost 1.4 million people flew with flag carrier Air Macau last year, up by 19,480 from 2010, AACM revealed. However the airline is still far from the figures registered in 2009.