The passenger volume at the Macau International Airport (MIA) totalled 4.04 million people in the first ten months of this year, Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) President, Pun Wa Kin, said during a meeting at the legislature yesterday.
This figure is roughly 50 percent less than the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, which saw 7.99 million people pass through the facility.
Pun suggested that numbers would rise in 2024, as “one of the government’s central tourism and economic initiatives next year will be to [attract] Northeast and Southeast Asian tourists to come to Macao.”
[See more: Macao’s airport saw just third thirds of its pre-pandemic passenger volume during golden week]
He highlighted the fact that international services between Macao and cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Bangkok have resumed, which will help to increase numbers.
In response to a legislator’s question regarding the airport’s ability to handle future increases, Pun noted that the airport’s current total passenger volume of 4.04 million is well within its capacity of 10 million people.
The Macau airport’s passenger volume has been increasing steadily this year, reaching a current peak of 602,936 in August. However, the following month saw a decrease to 449,819 passengers.