Macau’s flagship carrier, Air Macau has seen its concession contract extended yet again, this time for a period of up to three years or until the government completes and implements in the new Civil Aviation Activity Law.
In a release by the SAR’s Civil Aviation Authority, it’s noted that the draft law ‘is still under legislative process’- however no exact timeline could be defined as for when the remaining hurdles could be cleared.
In order to allow the carrier to ‘provide uninterrupted services to the Macau residents and the visitors’, the three-year period was chosen.
Authorities note that ‘the concession contract does not hinder the foreign airlines to fly to Macau’, furthering that it will ‘collaborate with the airlines to launch tourism campaigns in international markets.
The Macau airport concessionaire, it’s noted, is also ‘actively working on their marketing programs to attract more mainland and foreign airlines to come to Macau’ – one major point outlined in the government’s five-year plan for diversification.
Air Macau held a 25-year concession that expired in 2020, with the group granted a three-year extension due to the pandemic situation.
The breaking of the concession monopoly has been lauded as a healthy step in the development of Macau’s aviation industry, with hopes companies such as Air Asia will assume a larger role at the airport.
Macau is working to expand its current airport capacity to 13 million (from around 10 million currently), with land reclamation work on the project expected to start next year after design work is completed this year. Plans to expand the airport were initially launched in 2010, receiving approval in 2016. These plans were subsequently sent for approval by the Chinese central government, with approval received in October of 2022.
