AirAsia anticipates no Macau flight resumption soon

There are no immediate plans to resume flights to Macau, Celia Lao, Greater China Region general manager of AirAsia Digital, said yesterday.

Before 2020, the airline was one of the largest serving the Macau International Airport, with one of the largest destination networks too.

Despite not having immediate plans, Lao added that when demand returns the airline will proactively resume flights to Macau.

Lao highlighted that back in 2019, 15% of flights to and from Macau were operated by the airline, making it Macau’s largest non-local airline company. The daily maximum flights had once reached 13, Lao recalled.

She explained that Covid-19-related measures have discouraged foreigners from visiting Macau. The current quarantine period is eight days under red health code.

Furthermore, the executive also commented on the change of focus in the source market. With the Chief Executive encouraging the tourism trade to attract more foreign tourists, Lao said that the direction fits the company’s positioning. The short-haul AirAsia and long-haul AirAsia X will be able to transport local residents to almost all popular destinations around the globe, Lao explained.

Discussing the situation in Hong Kong, after the commencement of the “0+3” measure, Lao said the airline has gradually resumed flights to the city. The main challenge is airport capacity, Lao said, which has so far hindered the airline’s efforts to escalate the resumption rate.