MGTO says 13 passengers requested help after Air Macau flight diversion

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) said in a statement yesterday evening that all 166 passengers on an Air Macau flight from Osaka that was diverted to Nanning had already arrived in Macau on Sunday evening.

In the same statement, the MGTO added that only 13 of those passengers had requested assistance from the authorities, which had referred them to relevant departments for follow-up.

According to a previous media report from public broadcaster TDM, flight NX855 from Osaka to Macau was diverted to Nanning, Guangxi, earlier on Sunday due to weather conditions related to the passing of Typhoon Noul.

The same report noted that the 166 passengers were stranded in Nanning, with some having difficulty entering the mainland because they did not have a Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macau Residents, commonly known as the “Home Return Permit.”

In a clarification statement, MGTO noted that of the 166 passengers, a total of 64 decided to leave the airport and depart Nanning by their own means. The other 102 arrived in Macau safely on Sunday evening (July 26) on the specially organized flight NX855A, which landed at Macau International Airport at 8:40 p.m.

The statement contradicted information previously aired by TDM, which noted that the 166 passengers were still stranded in Nanning on Monday morning (July 27).

Without referring to the specifics of the issues encountered by some passengers, MGTO noted that Nanning Airport (Nanning Wuxu International Airport) is also known as Air Force Nanning Air Base and is jointly used for both civilian and military purposes, as is the case in several other mainland cities.