Passenger numbers rise; cargo volume sets record

Monday, Feb. 7, 2005 | 9:23 a.m.

CAM-Macau International Airport Co., which runs the city's air terminal, handled 28 percent more passengers and a record cargo volume last year as the former Portuguese colony hosted more tourists.

The number of passengers using Macau's airport rose to 3.7 million, compared with 2.9 million in 2003, CAM-Macau International Airport said in an e-mailed statement today. Cargo volume rose 56 percent to a record 220,894 metric tons.

Macau had 16.7 million visitors last year, up two-fifths from 2003, according to the city's Statistics and Census Service. An influx of visitors from China after the mainland government eased travel restrictions is helping to spur a tourism boom in Macau, where new casinos and hotels are starting up after tycoon Stanley Ho's four-decade gambling monopoly ended in 2002.

The number of visitors from China rose 66 percent to 9.53 million and made up 57 percent of the 2004 total.

Macau airport may be able to handle 4.17 million passengers this year, said John Chan, the airport operator's executive director on Jan. 25. "We're hoping to get a few more low-cost airlines to fly to Macau," Chan said.

Taiwan's Eva Airways Corp. and Malaysia-based AirAsia Bhd., Bangkok-based Thai AirAsia Co. and other airlines fly to Macau.