Macau: 60% of August flights cancelled

Macau International Airport Co Ltd has reported that almost 60 per cent of China-Macau flights have been cancelled amid a community outbreak of Covid-19.

Macau.- Macau International Airport Co Ltd has revealed that nearly 1,200 flights out of 2,000 have been cancelled from a total of 2,000 in recent days, mainly between Macau and mainland China.

Although there has no been an official explanation, it seems the majority of the cancellations could be due to the detection of local cases of Covid-19 on August 3. The day after the announcement, the daily tally of visitor numbers plummeted by 86.1 per cent to 1,800.

Macau has carried out mass testing for Covid-19 in which 716,251 people were tested, all of them returning negative results.

Authorities recently announced an extension for the validity of negative Covid-19 tests for visitors from Guangdong province to 48 hours. The measure covers direct inbound and outbound land trips.

Macau’s Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) declined by 48 per cent in the first week of August, just ahead of the summer holiday period when Macau expected a rise in GGR.

Andy Wu Keng Kuong, president of Macau Travel Industry Council, said the city now expects an average hotel occupancy rate of less than 50 per cent for August.

He said: “We hope that the local Covid-19 situation can be controlled within 14 days so that hospitality businesses here can gradually pick up starting from late August.”

Casinos remain open, though Couglan said a return to “normal levels” of business will depend on an increase in the vaccination rate in the city and its neighbouring provinces.

Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd has predicted that Macau’s GGR for August could be down 60 per cent compared to August 2019.