During the initial 10 months of this year, there were just 734 private charter flights flying in and out of Macao, according to comments by Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) president, Pun Wa Kin, reported in gaming industry media.
The official was speaking at the 12th Macau Public Aviation Exhibition last Friday.
The figure reportedly represents only 30 percent of the numbers that were reached before the pandemic in 2019.
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“Compared to the 56 flights recorded in 2022, the situation this year has already improved significantly,” Pun maintained. But the numbers still fall short of the 50 percent mark that TAG Aviation general manager, Rita Tam, had predicted earlier this year.
The AACM President said that he was confident that with the gradual recovery of the world’s economy, Macao’s luxury travel market would progressively bounce back and private charter flights would continue to increase.
Private charter flights are often used by gaming concessionaires to attract foreign high-rollers to Macao. However, the VIP gaming segment only contributed 26 percent of Macao’s gross gaming revenue for the first half of 2023, and over the past 10 years the junket sector has fallen off by some 85 percent.
