Macau International Airport is being allowed to add 34 extra flights to cover a period encompassing Lunar new year, typically a busy time for Macau tourism, including for its casino resorts.
The information was in a Monday announcement by Macau’s Civil Aviation Authority. Further flights might be added amid the holiday season, the body told GGRAsia on Tuesday, in response to our enquiry.
All but three of the routes gaining extra services are for overseas cities, rather than places in mainland China or Taiwan. Most – a total of 27 flights – are for the city’s legacy carrier Air Macau (pictured), and most of the added ones for that airline serve international routes.
The Monday statement from the aviation authority indicated the aggregate of flights were a mix of scheduled and charter services, but didn’t give a breakdown. They will run from January 15 to February 12.
China’s State Council has designated the latest lunar calendar-based Chinese New Year holiday period as from January 28, a Tuesday, to February 4, a Tuesday, for mainland residents. They are the most significant feeder market for Macau’s inbound tourism sector.
Juneyao Airlines has been approved to run seven additional weekly flights between Macau and the mainland’s Shanghai Pudong International Airport during the Chinese New Year period.
Air Macau’s extra services are to Kaoshiung and Taipei in Taiwan; and to Seoul, South Korea; Tokyo, Japan; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
