Macao held meetings with mainland China and the Philippines respectively for discussing the development of the air transport markets

Facing the rapid development of the air transport market in the Asia and Pacific Region, the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) reviews the Air Services Agreements which were signed between Macao SAR and the other foreign countries. Whenever there is a market need, AACM will take the initiative to discuss with the other aeronautical authorities for liberalizing the aviation markets. From 22 to 25 April 2008, AACM held discussions with the Air Transport Department of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) and the Department of Transportation and Communications of the Philippines (DTCP) respectively. Both meetings were held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. The discussions with DTCP resulted in the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which further liberalizes the development of the air transport market between Macao and the Philippines. The meeting between AACM and CAAC was conducted on 22 and 23 April 2008. The two parties presented to each other the latest development of the aviation markets in Macao and mainland China. Other important issues being discussed included the impact on Macao’s aviation, especially its role as a transit hub between mainland China and Taiwan, due to the realization of direct air links across the straits given the political transformation with the new leadership in the near future. To better prepare our industry to face this possible happening, the two parties exchanged views on the operation of beyond rights, co-terminalization between mainland cities, capacity and designation of airlines. The discussions resulted in preliminary conclusions on liberalizing those provisions. For the operation of beyond rights, CAAC indicated that there would be a number of difficulties to resolve. Despite this, they agreed to take an active role to make progress on this issue. For co-terminalization between mainland cities by Macao’s designated airline, CAAC expressed that the subject could not be resolved at this present moment as legal issues were involved. In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between CAAC and AACM on air transport in December 2006, the number of mainland destinations opened for operation is fifty seven. Presently, Macao provides scheduled air services to fourteen destinations in mainland China, which are Beijing, Changsha, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guilin, Haikou, Hangzhou, Kunming, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Wuhan and Wuxi. These routes are operated by 2 Macao airlines (one for helicopter services) which fly to 11 of these destinations and 5 mainland airlines which fly to 7 of the destinations. With the continuous rapid growth of the entire economy of China including the Pearl River Delta Region, as well as the opportunities driven by the economic boom of Macao, there are great potentials in the expansion of the air transport market between the two places. The two aeronautical authorities believe it would be necessary to put in place a liberal framework in a timely manner so as to attract more airlines to exploit new routes and increase frequencies. With this objective, both parties expressed the wish to hold regular meetings every year for exchange of information. Another meeting will be planned to take place later this year for the next round consultations. The air talks between AACM and DTCP were held on 24 and 25 April 2008. A new MOU was signed, further enhancing the cooperation on aviation between the two sides and therefore boosting the bilateral ties on trade and tourism. The signatories were the President of AACM, Mr. Chan Weng Hong and the Undersecretary for Civil Aviation, DTCP, Mr. Doroteo A. Reyes II. The new MOU contains the following revisions: 1) Increase on capacity
a) For passenger services: the designated airlines of each side are allowed to provide 3,000 seats to 6,300 seats per week, depending on the destination. (The old capacity only allowed 550 seats to 850 seats per week by each side.)
b) For all-cargo services: the designated airlines of each side are allowed to operate up to 300 tonnes of cargo per week. There is no capacity limitation on the point of Clark. (The old capacity only allowed up to 250 tonnes of cargo per week by each side for all destinations.) 2) Increase of points
a) The designated airlines of both sides are allowed to operate to all points in the Philippines. (The old MOU only allowed the designated airlines of both sides to operate three points in the Philippines.) At present, the air services between Macao and the Philippines include the following routes: one daily flight to Manila by Air Macau; flights from Manila and Cebu both with 2 frequencies by Cebu Pacific Air; one daily flight to Clark by Tiger Airways. In addition, the Philippines Airlines will operate 5 flights per week between Manila and Macao commencing 1 May 2008. Since Tiger Airways started low cost services in 2005, the passenger throughput for the Philippines market increased by more than 60% in that year. The successive years continue to report a two-digit increase year-on-year. With the efforts of the Macao SAR government and the aviation entities in market diversification, the proportion for the Asian market in our passenger profile (other than mainland China and Taiwan) has increased from less than 5% before 2000 to more than 32% till this present moment. Now that the signing of the new MOU has established a better aviation environment between Macao and the Philippines, AACM hopes that more local and foreign airlines will open new routes or increase the frequencies .