The SAR Government reiterates that the decisions and actions taken to VIVA Macau comply with laws

At the beginning of this year, VIVA Macau claimed to the SAR Government that due to operational difficulties they were looking for interested investors and requested the SAR Government several times to continue to render financial aid to them until an agreement could be reached between VIVA Macau and the potential investors. The SAR Government requested VIVA Macau to provide information for any progression. However, the information that VIVA Macau has submitted to the SAR Government did not specify the investment arrangement and therefore did not help the SAR Government to analyze whether VIVA Macau could acquire any investment.

The SAR Government reiterates that all decisions and actions taken comply with laws. According to the respective laws and regulations of Macao, any entity or person being granted the right to provide public services, that person or entity should guarantee that it is suitable, has appropriate technical qualification and financial capability. At this present moment, VIVA Macau is no longer compliant with the requirements of such laws and regulations and does not have any condition to provide public air transport services.

In the meantime, AACM received a notification on 29 March from the Macao legal representative of the leasing company of VIVA Macau which stated that due to the non-compliance with the provisions of the leasing contract by VIVA Macau, the leasing company requested AACM to de-register the aircrafts. According to the documents provided by the Macao legal representative, the leasing company has already sent an official letter to VIVA Macau on 23 and 24 March to notify them that all the aircrafts would be withdrawn on 25 and 26 March due to VIVA Macau’s failure in settling the leasing payment and not complying with the provisions of the leasing contract.

From 26 March, the cancellation and delay of VIVA Macau’s flight services has led to a large number of affected passengers being stranded at the airport without assistance from the airline. In order to provide proper arrangements to the affected passengers, the SAR Government immediately contacted VIVA Macau to request for relevant information. VIVA Macau, however, did not provide relevant information and assistance to the SAR Government in time, causing difficulties to the performance of assistance to the affected passengers. Until 28 March, the SAR Government then started gradually to receive the information of the affected passengers from VIVA Macau.