The auxiliary airport passenger terminal planned for the Taipa Ferry Terminal is set to accommodate at least four airlines with daily operations in the early stage of implementation.
Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário previously announced that there were plans to use the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Cotai as an extension of the Macau International Airport.
The local airport received 9.6 million tourist arrivals last year, despite being designed to receive only 7.8 million annual passengers.
The government considered the Taipa Ferry Terminal as a site with “advantageous geographical accessibility that is already in operations with spatial development possibility,” according to a statement released by the Civil Aviation Authority (AACM).
“In the long term, the air traffic is expected to continue its growth, but the capacity of the passenger terminal has been saturated and the unavailability of space in the passenger terminals needs to be addressed,” said the AACM.
The AACM announced that it plans to operate 12 to 16 check-in counters, four boarding gates, and waiting lounges with a floor area equivalent to a quarter of that of the Taipa Ferry Terminal. The expansion will raise the airport’s annual passenger capacity by between 1.5 and 2 million passengers.
The departure and arrival flow of airport passengers would be similar to that of ferry passengers.
Modification works addressing passenger and baggage handling as well as ground operations will be conducted, and will utilize four waiting lounges and their adjacent commercial shops on the east wing of the first floor with approximately 5,100 square meters used as a security checkpoint and departure waiting lounge.
The AACM also plans to utilize the existing east departure hall on the first floor as a check-in area, and the arrival hall and the arrival immigration area on the east wing of the ground floor as a baggage handling area.
The bureau further noted that the auxiliary passenger terminal also enhances the sea-air intermodal transportation services between the ports. Air-to-sea passengers and sea-to-air passengers are not required to go through the immigration and customs procedures, and can travel outbound by plane or to the Greater Bay Area by ferry. LV
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