Macau International Airport Co., Ltd. (CAM) has reported about MOP1.8 billion (US$225.4 million) in revenues last year, a 16.5 per cent year-on-year increase, the company’s latest financial report reveals.
This allowed the company to record MOP617 million in profits last year and provide some MOP97 million in dividends, with the public company responsible for the local airport being profitable for the eighth consecutive year.
According to CAM, this increase in results was mainly due to a 15.3 per cent rise in aviation revenues and a 17.4 per cent increase of non-aeronautical business revenue in 2019 from the year prior.
At the same time, the total revenue of the airport airline operators was estimated to have increased by 13.6 per cent to about MOP6.2 billion.
MIA handled 9.6 million passengers and over 77,580 aircraft movements in 2019, an increase of 16 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, with expansion plans looking to increase current capacity to 15 million.
The private jet sector was said to have been affected by the austerity of the global industry and recorded a 15.5 per cent year-on-year drop in flights to around 2,768 flights in 2019.
By the end of last year, 34 airlines operated a total of 59 routes on the MIA.
‘Last year […] MIA opened boarding service centers in Jiangmen and Zhongshan and opened 12 self-service check-in facilities at the passenger terminal,’ the company President, Ma Iao Hang, noted in the report.
‘In addition, six establishments were also opened in the sectors of catering, communications and travel on a sub-concession basis to offer more services and options to tourists.
Airport security has also been improved and optimized, with the replacement of parking facilities for aircraft and security partitions, and a double-layer security fence almost 12 kilometres long, equipped with a detection system to detect of intrusions at the border.
The number of high-precision network cameras at the airport increased to 921, with CCTV surveillance coverage increased by 30 per cent.
In term of future developments, the airport company vowed to develop medium and long-haul routes, with a view to attracting more international and local passengers to the MIA and provide more space for the passenger inspection units and the airport in general.
‘The expansion of the southern area of the passenger terminal has officially started. It is estimated that, upon completion of the project, there will be an additional area of 17,000 square meters and three new boarding gates,’ the company added.
This year the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) has revealed plans to create a second airport terminal at the ferry terminal in Pac On, capable of handling some 1.4 million passengers per year.
However, the company also addressed the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic to the airline industry and local operations, with the company maintaining close contact with its business partners and the Macau SAR govenrment in order to study interim relief policies and to actively prepare for the joint implementation of plans to recover the volume of air traffic after the epidemic.
Passenger numbers have dropped by 50 per cent in the first quarter of this year with cargo volume down 25 per cent. Currently, only 20 routes are operating through the MIA.
The AACM indicated this month that it will extend Air Macau’s exclusive concession – scheduled to finish this year – by three more years until 2023 in order to maintain ‘stability’ in the local airline industry.
Several changes to CAM’s management were also announced this year, following a critical CA audit report on its operations between 2008 and 2019.
