The number of passengers passing through the airport is predicted to increase by not more than 15 percent year-on-year, says Eric Fong, the marketing director of the Macau International Airport Company.
During an interview with local media on Wednesday, Fong said that the aviation industry had not fully recovered and that there was still a shortage of both ground and flight staff.
His remarks come as the Hong Kong carrier, Cathay Pacific, makes headlines for its extensive cancellations of flights ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which it has blamed on the lack of personnel.
[See more: Just under 1.5 million foreigners visited Macao in 2023]
Despite the issues plaguing the industry, Fong expects airport passenger volume to grow in 2024, “with an increase of 10 percent to 15 percent on top of last year’s passenger volume of 5.15 million.”
However, the anticipated total of 5.92 million passengers at most will still fall far short of the pre-pandemic total of 9.61 million passengers, posted in 2019.
Some industry insiders have predicted 36 million total arrivals for Macao in the year ahead, or about 90 percent of the pre-pandemic tally. Given the city’s overwhelming dependence on the domestic China market, the vast majority can be expected to come to Macao via land crossings or ferries instead of passenger aircraft.
