The number of passengers on ferry services between Macao and Hong Kong is only 60 to 70 percent of what it was before the pandemic, according to Susana Wong, director of the Marine and Water Bureau.
Speaking to TDM, the official said the current daily passenger numbers on the route averaged between 15,000 and 17,000.
Although as many as 30,000 a day were recorded during the recent National Day holidays, official figures show that the vast majority of border crossings during the week-long break were made via land checkpoints at the Border Gate, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) and Hengqin Port.
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According to Wong, the advent of road transport between the two cities through the opening of the HZMB was “offering a lot of convenience, taking some passengers away from the ferry route.”
She noted that the recent opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link had also seen a sharp reduction in the number of Macao passengers using the ferry to Shenzhen. Previously, it was far quicker to sail across the Pearl River estuary to China’s tech hub than it was to make the long drive via Macao’s northern neighbour Zhongshan.
Now, with road travel time between Zhongshan to Shenzhen cut from two hours to just 20 minutes, there is far less demand for ferry seats.
