Airport handles nearly 30,000 flights in first five months

There was a total of 29,590 flights to and from Macau during the first five months of the year, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) announced yesterday, an increase of 18.8% over the equivalent period a year earlier.

The significant rise was released as part of the monthly data on the state of Macau’s transport sector

Some 6,245 flights were handled by the Macau International Airport in May, up by 23.3% year-on-year. Trips between Macau and mainland China increased by 39.4%, to 2,722, while those between Macau and Taiwan increased by 7.2%, to 1,064.

The airport handled 3,119 tons of air cargo in May, a decrease of 9.4% year-on- year. Gross weight of outward cargo and transit cargo fell by 6.3% and 36.8% respectively to 2,134 tons and 417 tons, but inward cargo grew by 12.6% to 568 tons. In the first five months, air cargo dropped by 5.4% year-on-year to 15,240 tons.

For land traffic, the number of accidents rose by 6.1% year-on-year to 1,075 in May, involving 371 victims, one of which died. In the first five months, there were 5,191 traffic accidents and 1,799 traffic casualties.

The number of licensed motor vehicles stood at 238,010 as of the end of May, slightly more than that at the same point of the year in 2018. The number of light automobiles and heavy motorcycles increased by 1% and 2% respectively to 107,929 and 97,819.

Meanwhile, the 887 new vehicle registrations in May this year represented a 16.6% drop over the same month a year earlier. Some 416 were light vehicles and 408 heavy motorcycles, marking decreases of 13.5% and 22% respectively. In the first five months of 2019, new registrations of motor vehicles declined by 24.2% year-on-year to 4,887.

Vehicle crossings at the Cotai border rose 7.6% year-on-year in May. A total of 32,937 trips were recorded over the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. In the first five months of 2019, cross-border vehicular traffic grew by 7% year-on-year to 2.16 million trips. Staff reporter