Macau International Airport

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The Macau International Airport (Portuguese Aeroporto Internacional de Macau ) International Airport is the only commercial airport in the Chinese special administrative region Macao.

History

The airport was built in the time when Macau was still part of the Portuguese territory. It should open up the possibility without entering the Chinese territory to embark on a flight, because until now there was no efficient airport in Macau.

Since Macau was then still faced with serious space problems (Macau only consists of three islands ), they built an artificial island on which to place the start and runway. The island is 3600 meters long and up to 415 meters wide, it runs in a north -south direction. The apron, which is located on Taipa Island is connected by two taxiway bridges with the island on which is situated the slopes.

The airport was finally opened in November 1995.

Terminal building and apron

So far was erected only a passenger terminal building. The curved, three-story building is equipped with four passenger boarding bridges. It is designed for a year 6,000,000 passengers. Hourly therefore, more than 2,000 passengers are handled.

At the lowest level are the facilities for arriving passengers, such as the passport control and baggage claim belts. In the second level departing passengers are handled. There are several dozen check- in desk. On the third floor a couple of dining facilities, but especially the offices of the local airlines are housed.

There are spacious bus stops on the sides of the building. Most of the passengers are driven from there in buses to their aircraft on the apron. The transfer to / from the Macau Ferry Terminal on the Macau peninsula is organized for travelers in transit to / from Hong Kong or Shenzhen. There is also the possibility for transit passengers to use the Air -To- Flow Country Express bus to mainland China.

The apron can accommodate 22 wide-body aircraft (aircraft the size of a Boeing 777, for example ). There is also a hangar and a small cargo terminal building. The airport landside area offers no expansion options.

Facts and Figures

The airport of Macau has a start and runway. It is connected by two taxiways with the apron and terminal buildings. The track itself is equipped with ILS CAT II, so that operating in poor visibility is possible.

When typhoons, the airport is closed.

Airlines and destinations

The main airline on the ground is the local Air Macau, which operates a dense network in East Asia, but hardly flying long distances. Another airline with a home base in Macao was the Viva Macau, which went bankrupt in 2010.

Most airlines that fly to Macau, come from China. On the Chinese mainland therefore most destinations are.

Since the boom of low cost airlines and the Malaysian Air Asia and Singapore's Tiger Airways steer to the airport.

Formerly flew the Portuguese TAP Air Portugal at the airport of the Portuguese colony. These long-haul flights to and from Lisbon were set, however.

The airport benefits from the transit traffic between Taiwan and mainland China, which can be carried out for political reasons only via Macao and only by Air Macau. Air Macau offers flights from Taiwan to China with a stop in Macau on. Passengers must to go through a special clearance procedure at the stopover in Macao. They have to stay in the airport for such a flight for 30 minutes before boarding.