Airport traffic expectations fell slightly short
The air traffic at the Macau International Airport (MIA) fell slightly short (-5.2%) in comparison with the expectations from the airport company (CAM) for the Lunar New Year holidays (CNY).
Before the CNY, Eric Fong, Director of the Marketing Department of CAM, had forecasted a volume of 50,000 passengers during the first five days of the new year, averaging 10,000 per day.
Over the given period, the MIA handled 47,400 passengers at an average of 9,480 per day, 5.2% lower than expected.
The forecast from CAM was not very ambitious as the figure of 10,000/day represented less than a 20% increase when compared to the regular airport traffic in the period before the holidays, leading to the conclusion that fewer passengers had flown into Macau and, although there was a clear and noticeable increase in the number of the visitors, these are sources mostly in the nearby markets.
Analyzed by day, the day recording the highest influx of passengers was the second day of the CNY (Jan. 23) when 5,892 arrivals to the Macau airport were reported. Also, it is notable that of these only 4,912 (-980) were tourists.
On the other hand, the day that registered the highest number of departures was the fourth day of the CNY (Jan. 25) with 4,966.
This makes the second and fourth days of the CNY the days with most movement at the MIA and the only two days in which the total movement exceeded 10,000.
If we take into consideration not only the first five days of the CNY but the full nine days of this year’s “Golden Week,” from CNY Eve (Jan. 21) to Jan. 29 inclusive, the number of passengers handled by the MIA falls slightly further to an average of 9,413 passengers per day.
According to Fong, the MIA has a current capacity for processing around 30,000 in-bound passengers per day, having recorded an average of 5,000/day in the last week, representing a capacity rate of just around 17%.
According to the same official, the airport has been resuming several flight routes from the time the pandemic restrictions were lifted, and recently 10 routes have been reopened, linking Macau to 26 destinations, of which 20 are located on the mainland.
Currently, and according to the Civil Aviation Authority, it is only possible to fly internationally from MIA to Tokyo (Japan), Singapore, Hanoi (Vietnam), Bangkok (Thailand), and Seoul (South Korea) as well as Taipei (Taiwan), with an additional route to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) scheduled to resume on Feb. 14.
