Macau: New aviation bill to boost gambling hub's global connectivity

A new aviation law introduced in Macau could connect the gambling hub to the US, South America and Australia. Should lawmakers pass the Civil Aviation Activities Bill, Air Macau's monopoly status would come to an end, opening the door for other airlines to establish operational bases in the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR).

Macao News cited Eduardo Buisson Loureiro, an international lawyer and arbitrator with the Macau-based firm BN Lawyers, who said the new law’s impact had the potential to “be equated [with] what happened with the casino industry in Macau, which was deregulated in the early part of this century.”

Loureiro said that the bill had long been “approved in general terms” by the Legislative Assembly. However, delays were being caused by disagreements between lawmakers over how long airlines’ concession periods should be.

The initial proposal was 25 years, but there have been calls to reduce it to 10 years, which would allow the authorities more leeway when responding to developments in the aviation industry.

Last November, as a result of the ongoing discussions, the government decided to grant Air Macau a three-year extension to its monopoly concession.

Air Macau was initially granted a 25-year monopoly to transport passengers, mail and cargo in 1995. The deal was set to end in 2020 but was extended for three years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, before being extended again in 2023. The concession does not bar other airlines from flying to and from Macau, but it does prevent them from setting up bases at the city’s airport.

AirAsia had expressed interest in having an operational base in the SAR back in 2019, when it expected Air Macau’s monopoly to end the next year. A base would have allowed the carrier to station aircraft, crews and maintenance activities in Macao.

When enacted, the Civil Aviation Activities Law will increase competition in the SAR’s aviation market. Loureiro noted that the new law could lead to more single-carrier indirect flights between Macao and Europe via airports in the Middle East – as well as direct routes connecting Macao to North America, South America, Australia and New Zealand. 

“There are two big (aviation) companies and one medium (sized carrier) that are already interested in coming here,” he said, without naming airlines.