Viva Macau asks for more financial assistance

Local low-cost carrier Viva Macau is getting local media headlines for good and bad reasons.
While it is increasing the number of flights and destinations, the airline has allegedly submitted a request for extension of the Government’s financial assistance, as local newspaper Hoje Macau reported yesterday.
Civil Aviation Authority of Macau (AACM) would not confirm the allegations when contacted by the Macau Daily Times. Instead, the public department said that Viva Macau “must find their way to sustain their operations” in the long term.
“The Government has granted short term loans to Viva Macau from 2008 to 2009. We take the opportunity to emphasize that these are short term loans and that the decision to grant the loans was based on thorough consideration that the destinations which they fly to are not operated by other airlines, that their destinations have expanded Macau’s network and helped to enhance the tourism and aviation development of Macau,” AACM explained in a statement sent by e-mail.
Viva Macau’s current financial situation is facing challenges.
“The Government has been keeping close monitoring on the operations of the local airlines. The financial reports which they [Viva Macau] submitted to the Government show that they have operational difficulties,” it added.
The case, which came to the daylight by the hand of lawmaker Au Kam San, started a wave of criticisms towards the low-cost operator. The lawmaker said the company got financial assistance from the Government, mainly from a special fund provided by the Economics Service Bureau (DSE), from September 2008 until the same month of last year, totaling around MOP100 million.
Au Kam San questioned why a company with so few aircrafts and only around 100 employees deserves the Government’s aid to survive. He also suggested this case is hiding some personal interests. Additionally, Paul Chan Wai Chi, another pro-democrat lawmaker sent a new list of questions to the Government, asking for details about the agreement.
“The global economic crisis, the instability of the international oil prices and serious competition among the aviation markets have led the aviation industries everywhere to operate with difficulties. The realization of the cross strait direct flights has deteriorated the operation of the Macau market. The operation of our local airlines, is adversely affected by the world economic depression,” AACM pointed out to the MDTimes.
The president of the AACM, Simon Chan, said recently that the DSE provided financial assistance to help Viva Macau to maintain flight routes and bring more diversified visitors to Macau.
Viva Macau declined to make a comment when approached by the MDTimes.
Meanwhile, the local low-cost airline launched a new route to Hanoi,Vietnam, and decided to increase services from Melbourne, Australia. According to a statement from the company, the new weekly flight represents a 50 percent increase in direct flight capacity between Melbourne and Macau.