Macau International Airport handled a record 9.6 million passengers last year, a year-on-year increase of 16 per cent, its operator CAM announced on Thursday.
According to a CAM statement, the number of aircraft movements (takeoffs and touchdowns) rose 18 percent year-on-year to 77,580 in 2019.
The statement pointed out that last year’s number of passengers exceeded by 14 times the local population, which stood at 676,100 at the end of September, according to official statistics.
The airport’s main destinations – the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Southeast Asia – recorded year-on-year growth of 6 per cent, 25 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
According to the statement, 34 airlines are currently flying to 59 destinations in mainland China and Taiwan as well as a number of foreign countries in Southeast and North Asia.
The statement pointed out that the airport added 13 new routes last year including Jeju in South Korea, Pyongyang in North Korea, Cam Ranh in Vietnam, and Mandalay in Myanmar.
According to the Macau Post Daily, CAM pledged in the statement to “make every effort” to develop long-haul routes to attract more passengers. Currently, the airport does not offer any intercontinental flights.
The airport opened on December 8, 1995. It received its 10 millionth passenger on August 1, 2000. In 1996, its first full year of operation, the number of passengers stood at 1.3 million. In 1999, when the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) was established, 2.64 million passengers passed through the single-runway airport.
