Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario addressing Wednesday’s Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle, said there will no longer be a helicopter service at the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal on the peninsula after the construction of high-rises on the land reclamation area known as Zone A, and at that time the helicopter service will be moved to the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On.
Rosario made the remarks on the last day of the two-day Q&A session about his portfolio’s policy guidelines for next year.
The Taipa Ferry Terminal came into operation on June 1. The terminal has a total of 16 berths for ferries with a carrying capacity of 400 passengers and three “multipurpose” berths for vessels with a carrying capacity of 1,200 passengers, as well as a helipad.
The Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal in Zape came into service in 1993. The operator of the existing helicopter service, Sky Shuttle, flies routes between Macau and Hong Kong and between Macau and Shenzhen.
The government has said that the helicopter service at the Taipa Ferry Terminal will only start after the completion of the terminal’s third-phase construction, which will include a fire station, fuel-supply facilities for helicopters, and other ancillary facilities.
Eight berths out of the 16 berths are currently in use at the Taipa Ferry Terminal.
The government has said that the other eight berths and the three “multi-purpose” berths will be operational after the completion of the terminal’s third-phase construction, which will require the demolition of the adjacent Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal.
The six new land reclamation zones are officially known as A, B, C, D,E1 and E2.
The government has said that the reclamation of Zone A – which lies off the north-eastern coast of the peninsula – will be completed at the end of this year. The government has plans to build 28,000 public housing units as well as the construction of 4,000 units for the private housing market in Zone A.
Speaking during the plenary session, Rosario said that helicopters will not be allowed to fly in the airspace around the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal after high-rise have been built in Zone A, as stated in the city’s aviation regulations.
Rosario said that therefore the helicopter service at the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal would have to be moved to the Taipa Ferry Terminal.
Also speaking during the plenary session, Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) Director Susana Wong Soi Man said that the government expects the Taipa Ferry Terminal to be fully operational, including the helicopter service, in two years time.
