by Fernando Ferreira

Macau could benefit from a direct route to India, Antonio Rato, senior assistant to the chairman and Macau International Airport’s (CAM) marketing director, told the media on the sidelines of the Yunnan sister airport signing agreement yesterday.
“Viva Macau, if they have the new aircraft available, India is a good market to operate to, and so is Moscow”, he said.
Rato said that opening a route between India and Macau would be beneficial because of the size of the Indian market and the increased frequency of Indians visiting Macau today.  “They have to arrive in Hong Kong or Guangzhou and as the number of people looking to come to Macau is increasing, it's just natural that they'll generate that market.”
From CAM's standpoint, India is one of the company's top markets to explore, as well as Japan and Korea in the upcoming months.
“It's also the target market for tourism and it's a pity that Air Macau doesn't have direct flights there, so we are relying on Viva, but they are also talking with their India counterparts to try to get some of them interested in flying to Macau starting next year”, Rato added.
Rato said that airport services would not suffer from an increase in the number of visitors, as the loss in transfer passengers has created capacity.
Fuel prices, the Olympic Games and visa restrictions, financial crisis, direct flights between Taiwan and China, and most recently the A(H1N1) flu have all impacted CAM's results but provided new opportunities for an increase of other inbound Macau passengers.
“A lot of these flights that are not needed for transfer passengers can be used for bringing people to Macau. We still have capacity, and in terms of the airport capacity it's said to be six million passengers per year but in fact it's more than that, as it depends on the quality of service that you provide to the passengers.  In terms of runway, we have capacity to do more and in terms of terminals, we have plans to expand when it's needed, so I'm not very worried about the capacity of the airport”, Rato said.
Plans to expand the airport are in place but dependant on changes to the current situation. “We still don't have the land from the government. The airport doesn't exist to satisfy the airport, the airport is a tool for the economic development of the territory, so if there is a demand and a need, then it's the government's obligation to give the conditions for it to happen”, he stressed.