Low-cost carrier AirAsia will be launching three to four new routes for Macau this year, the airline’s CEO for Hong Kong and Macau Celia Lao Sio Wun told reporters Monday.
Lao made the comments before officiating over the launch ceremony of the airline’s Macau-Phuket daily flight at the local airport.
The route’s first flight arrived from Phuket in the morning and returned shortly after.
Lao said that AirAsia had received many requests for the Macau-Phuket route and when it managed to get a slot at the busy Phuket airport last year after many years of trying, it decided to have the route flying directly once a day between the resort island and Macau.
“From our records, there are many fly-through passengers from Macau and the Pearl River Delta flying from Macau to Bangkok, then to Phuket,” Lao said, pointing out that the big demand allowed them to launch the new Macau-Phuket route.
According to Lao, about 22,000 seats on the Macau-Phuket route have been sold since October, which makes up roughly 122 flights.
“It’s a very encouraging figure and we hope we can have more slots for this route after six or 12 months,” she said.
After the start of the new route, Lao said there would be three or four more to come this year.
“They are all flights within four hours [of the city],” Lao said, adding that she could only give more details when everything is confirmed.
According to Thailand’s consul-general for Hong Kong and Macau, Asi Mamanee, the new route will result in even closer ties between Thailand and Macau.
Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) President Simon Chan Weng Hong said in a speech at the ceremony that aircraft from Macau transported 780,000 passengers between Macau and Thailand, the fourth highest in passenger market
