Feb 02, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  
The Civil Aviation Authority of Macau said on Friday that it had approved an aggregate of 134 fresh flights – commercial-airline and charter services – for the period February 3 to 23 inclusive, in addition to flights it had already approved for the same timespan. Out of the 134 additional flights, nearly 65 percent, or 87, are connecting Macau with cities in either mainland China or Taiwan.
The extra capacity was to cater to travel demand during Chinese New Year (CNY), said the aviation authority. It did not specify how many flights had originally been approved for the period February 3 to 23.
For mainland China – the biggest source of Macau’s inbound visitors – the official designated festive period of the lunar calendar-based Chinese New Year, runs from February 10 to February 17 inclusive this time.
Of the extra flights, 54, or about 40 percent, will collectively serve Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan and Wuxi. There are 33 extra flights – or about 25 percent of the total 134 – to serve Taipei in Taiwan.
For the same period, 20 flights – or about 15 percent of the additional ones – are for Bangkok, Thailand; with 14 more – about 10 percent of the extra flights – for Hanoi in Vietnam. Cambodia’s Phnom Penh gets two more.
The civil aviation authority approved 11 extra flights – about 8 percent of the 134 new ones, and all charter services – for the Pacific island state of Palau during the February 3 to 23 period, the authority noted to GGRAsia.
Air carriers receiving fresh service allocation in February, are: Air Macau, Juneyao Air, Shenzhen Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Sky Angkor Airlines and Cambodia Airways, said a Friday press release from Macau International Airport Co Ltd (CAM), operator of the city’s air hub. Cambodia Airways is operating the Palau charters.
The airport is forecast to handle an aggregate of 860 flights and 110,000 passenger journeys during the period February 10 to 14, the first five days of the Chinese New Year holiday, CAM had mentioned in a Thursday press release.
The expected passenger throughput for those five days translates to a daily average of circa 22,000. CAM said it anticipated handling as many as “24,000” passengers at the airport in a single day, amid what it called the “peak” of the festive period.
In 2019 – the immediate trading year before the Covid-19 pandemic – the Chinese New Year period was also in February, though the official holiday was only seven days, versus eight days this time . During February 5 to 10 in 2019 – the first six days of that festive period – Macau’s airport handled 180,000 passengers and over 1,300 flight movements, according to CAM data.
Currently, a total of 26 airlines serve the city’s airport, CAM noted in its Thursday release. Collectively they operate 43 flight routes, of which 23, or 53 percent, are destinations in mainland China. A further three serve Taiwan. The remaining 17 routes, or circa 40 percent – serve overseas destinations.
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