Turkish Airlines postpones plans for Macau

Macau (MNA) – Turkish Airlines’ plans to operate flights from Macau are “postponed” for the time being and more likely to take off one or two years from now, the marketing director of the Macau International Airport (MIA), Eric Fong, told MNA on Thursday.

“I spoke to their [Turkish Airlines] planning department and they have already reached a business decision not to come this year,” said Mr. Fong. “They are thinking about Macau for 2020 or 2021.”

MNA reported first hand in July 2018 that the Middle Eastern company was mulling establishing a route between Macau and Istanbul.

The company had heavily advertised in local media outlets in the past few months, leading to speculation that its operations were to open shortly in the city.

Fong dismissed such speculation today.

Amongst the factors that have caused the company to “postpone” its plans, the MIA marketing director listed policy changes and economic difficulties in the country.

He also stated that in the case Turkish Airlines sets base in Macau, it would opt for flying to the city, but not registering the company here, while keep running operations both from Macau and Hong Kong, where it is already established.

“They would like to use Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou as kind of a connection and attract more Chinese people, local people. I cannot say it would be cheaper for them [to operate from Macau], but it will create more opportunities and we will try to meet their requirements,” said Mr. Fong.