“Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited management has just approved a 25 to 50 per cent discount scheme for airlines for their first two years of operations depending on their frequencies, arrival and departure time and relationships with Menzies Worldwide,” he says.
Chan added that Menzies is working closely with CAM to get new customers. “We share information together and understand the target countries CAM want to develop in 2009. We work together with CAM to give incentives to attract airline customers in target countries flying to Macau,” he adds.
The airport services provider says it handled 70,000 tonnes in 2008, down 39.13 per cent compared with 115,000 tonnes in 2007, impacted by the global financial crisis and the slowdown of the Macau economy due to shrinking exports from China to Europe and the US.
“The total tonnage forecast in 2009 is around 47,000 tonnes, down a further 32.85 per cent year-on-year,” Chan says, but points out that the figures include import, export and transshipment cargo and excludes transit cargo that stays onboard an aircraft.
The airport has also been hit by the recently established direct link between China and Taiwan, resulting in some airlines, including EVA Air, Shanghai Airlines and Air Macau, reducing their frequencies and downgrading their aircraft from wide body to narrow body.
“Apart from cost savings, we are trying to think out of the box to look for opportunities to improve our revenue stream. We are trying to evaluate some new business opportunities such as remote check-in for hotels, aircraft polishing, remote warehousein China, etc,” Chan says.
Pro-active strategy
Menzies, which currently employs over 500 staff , boasts a number of facilities. They include a dedicated cargo warehouse, an aircraft hangar capable of accommodating a 747, tail-in, a state-of-the-art staff training facilities, a dedicated computer core room and IT support facilities. Menzies is now adopting a pro-active and more aggressive strategy in its air cargo business. So, instead of waiting for cargo to be sent into its warehouse, the ground handler is trying to set up some remote warehouse in areas like Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou to provide greater convenience to agents for sending cargo to Macau.
“At the same time we are also trying to work together with some cargo agents to promote door to door service for importcargo by bonded truck from Macau and directly sending the cargo to the final destination like Dongguanwithout any customs clearance at the border,” Chan says.
Asked about its air to land trucking services, Chan says currently, Menzies had been providing mainly land to air trucking services with a trucking company as partner. “Now we are operating bonded truck from Dongguan and Guangzhou to Macau. We are working together with some local agents and this service was welcomed by most of the agents, particularly those with a lot of small shipments,” he says.
The number of truck involved and frequencies will be based on the volume of cargo, Chan says.
CAM’s business plan
According to CAM executive director Liu Suning, the airport handled 100,767 tonnes of cargo in 2008, down 44 per cent compared with 180,000 tonnes of cargo in 2007. In 2009, Macau International Airport, as a whole, is forecast to handle only 50,000 tonnes of cargo.
Outward air cargo fell sharply by 40 percent year-on-year to 41,548 tonnes in 2008, with Taiwan and the mainland being the main destinations accounting for 67 per cent and 11 per cent of the total respectively.
Concurrently, inward air cargo decreased by 27 per cent to 16,705 tonnes, with those from Taiwan, China taking a predominant share of 83 per cent. In addition, transit air cargo dropped significantly by 52 per cent over 2007 to 42,515 tonnes.
Commercial flight movements at the Macau International Airport decreased by seven per cent year-on-year to 46,036 in 2008, where Taiwan, the mainland and Malaysia were the major routes accounting for 38 per cent, 27 per cent and 10 per cent of the total commercial in and outbound flights.
Liu says that the airport has purchased a new cargo facility and the south apron from the government last year to expand its business. Last year, Macau airport attracted three more new airlines – Jetstar Asia Airways, Philippine Airlines and Bangkok Airways – to use its facilities.
Macau airport has also signed Sister Airport Strategic Partnership with the Gold Coast Airport of Australia, Hainan Meilan International Airport of China and TAG Aviation Farnborough Airport of England to exchange information and assist each other to develop business.
Macau airport has also launched a cooperation project with CAAC Management Institute to continue training aviation professionals for Macau Airport and small-to-medium airports in mainland China.
Besides these moves, its plans to develop into a “cultural” and “green” airport” focusing on bringing the arts into the airport, as well as reducing its carbon footprint. Macau airport also successfully hosted the “Route’s Regional Asia Forum 2008” co-organised by the “International Air Transport Association (IATA) World Tour 2008 Conference” in Macau last year.
CAM is a private company founded in January 1989 with initial share capital of MOP4,000 million (US$500,000). As the public concessionaire of Macau International Airport, it built and manages the facility under a 50-year government concession, until 2039.
The Macau SAR government is the major shareholder of CAM, with a 55.4 per cent stake in the Company. Sociedade do Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) has a 33.03 per cent share, and the remaining shares are held by a number of Mainland Chinese and local business and institutions.
CAM subcontracts key airport operations to various specialist service providers in order to ensure efficient running of the airportto international standards at the former Portuguese enclave.