Two local airlines which have never even set its wings to the skies, might be on the verge of losing their sub-concession with Air Macau.
Macau Asia Express was established in January 2006, and was expected to start operations as early as the fourth quarter of 2006, however, practically three years on, and the flights are yet to kick off. Its destinations included Asia and the mainland, while Golden Dragon, a sub-concession of Air Macau and part of Hong Kong's Dragon Air, was established in 2005.
The two were expected to finally start flying at the end of last year, according to the president of the Civil Aviation Authority in Macau, Simon Chan, who added that both airlines had asked the local government for an extension.
Chan said in answer to MDTimes during an open floor panel meeting held in April last year with other local and regional low cost carriers CEO's as part of the Regional Route Development Forum, that the
“The government agreed with the [carriers extension application] and hopefully will start operations by the end of this year,” Chan said at the time, adding that even though the airport has been running since 1995, Macau is still “new” in the aviation industry.
Chan at the time also said that he had “no idea” and preferred not to comment on how Macau skies will be run when the monopoly is over.
“Our policies are not so liberal, it's the concession method... Similarly to the gaming concessions... It's just the way it is. And that's where we hope to have new policies and let the market decide what it wants,” Chan added.