Airport expects 20% up in passenger counts, flight movements y-o-y this year

Macau International Airport (MIA) management announced yesterday that it expects passenger volume and flight movements to increase by more than 20% year-over-year in 2024.

The announcement was made during this year’s media luncheon at noon yesterday, chaired by Chan Weng Hong, chairman of the Executive Committee of Macau International Airport Company Limited (CAM).

Business aviation movements and cargo volume are expected to rise by 40% and 9% respectively. Additionally, during the upcoming Lunar New Year period, the airport is set to witness 13 special charter flights, including seven to mainland Chinese destinations, three to Taipei, and three to Bangkok, Cam Ranh and Phnom Penh.

Last year by comparison, the local airport handled 5.15 million passengers and over 42,500 aircraft movements, representing a 54% and 55% recovery to pre-pandemic (2019) levels. The cargo market experienced steady growth, with cargo volume of 63,800 tons handled, marking a year-on-year increase of 24% in 2023. Business aviation operations reached 923 movements, more than double the previous year.

These factors, combined with other undisclosed areas, have generated an estimated revenue of MOP1.18 billion for CAM, equivalent to 65% of pre-pandemic revenue and a remarkable 178% increase from the previous year.

Looking ahead, the airport management is committed to expanding passenger and cargo operations in the overseas market, with a continued focus on passenger needs. The company will also enhance service quality by promoting the modernization of airport infrastructure and incorporating innovative technologies, ensuring a safe, efficient, and convenient travel experience for passengers.

In terms of facility enhancements, Chan revealed that the network setup and system installation for the New Integrated Airport Management Center (IAMC) and Emergency Operation Center (EOC) have been completed and are expected to be operational in 2024.

The Environmental Monitoring and Hydrologic Monitoring works are also in the process of being gradually rolled out, and the reclamation project is expected to commence in the second half of 2024.

Further initiatives slated for implementation include the replacement of flight information display hardware and deployment of airport private cloud infrastructure. Tenders for operations of business and customer facilities at the airport were recently opened to suitable tenants. Chan further revealed that over 60 airport facilities, equipment, and information optimization projects have been systematically carried out in 2023, and third-party tender evaluators will be involved in the grading process.

In 2023, CAM actively initiated preliminary preparations for the Macau International Expansion and Reclamation Project, conducting various tendering processes and refining the layout of the first-phase apron.

CAM will fully cooperate with the plan and actively facilitate the implementation of an airport check-in service at Hengqin Port, jointly developing the “One Journey, Multiple Stops” interline trips between Macau and Hengqin.

Further cooperation is planned with well-known mainland logistics and cross-border e-commerce systems to promote cross-border logistics and facilitate the integrated development of Hengqin and Macau.