January air passenger volume up 4.8 percent

The Macau International Airport (MIA) reported a 4.8 percent growth in the passenger volume in January this year, and also expected increased air traffic during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays.
According to the MIA press release, Macau’s tourism industry has started to see “signs of recover after the prolonged effects” of the global financial crisis occurred more than a year ago.
Reportedly airlines will add several tens of extra flights to mainland Chinese during the Chinese New Year holidays to meet the travel demand.
The additional flights will fly to popular destinations such as mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand and Japan, the MIA said.
The volume of passengers stood at 358,902 in January at the MIA, rose by 4.8 percent compared with the same period of 2009.
The airport attributed the improvement to the “gradual recovery in the global economy”, particularly in the economy of China which in turn stimulated Macaus tourism industry.
In addition, the Valentines Day falls on the Lunar New Year’s Day on February 14, which “greatly increases the travel intention of Macau citizens”.
The MIA said it estimated that the total passenger volume of this year’s Chinese New Year holidays will surmount that of the same period in 2009.
On the other hand, in a bid to accelerate the recovery paces of Macau’s aviation industry, the MIA has revised the incentive policy of developing new routes for the airlines, which have been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of Macau (AACM).
The changes aimed to “strengthen and assist the airlines to expand new routes and markets while reducing the costs of operation at the same time”, the press statement pointed out.
In 2009, the MIA helped several airlines to restart services to Malaysia, Thailand and the mainland that were previously suspended, and also helped implement new routes to Penang, Laoag City, Nanning, Melbourne and Sapporo.
After the launch of Air China code sharing with Air Macau for the new route between Macau and Wuhan the capital of Hubei province on January 15, Viva Macau will launch three flights to Hanoi in Vietnam weekly starting February 13.
“With the continuous recovery of the global economy and further development of Macau’s tourism industry”, the MIA said it is confident that more foreign airlines will begin launching new air services and routes to Macau in order to fulfill the demand of the market.