Review of 25 years of Civil Aviation safety oversight and important milestones in the development of Macau International Airport

With the rapid development of the global aviation industry, the Macao SAR Government has always put aviation safety as the first priority. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) formulates the laws and regulations applicable to Macao in accordance with the standards and recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), reviewing and updating the regulations regularly. Since the launch of the “Macao SAR Civil Aviation Safety Programme (Macao SSP)” in 2010, a comprehensive safety management system has been established, which composed of four functional components: safety policy; safety risk management; safety assurance and safety promotion. We ensure that all operators strictly comply with safety standards through regular audits and inspections, maintaining a good record in aviation safety over the past 25 years, which has built an important foundation for the development of civil aviation in Macao.

In response to the increasing passenger and operational demand, Macau International Airport has continually enhanced the infrastructure and communication navigation facilities. The expansion of the passenger terminal on the north and south sides were in operation in 2018 and 2022 respectively, with the handling capacity of the airport increased to 10 million passengers per year. In addition, the new business hangar was constructed in 2018, the apron was optimized and transformed in 2019, increasing the number of the aircraft stands. Having received the approval from the State Council for the land reclamation, the airport expansion project will be further executed in different phases includes expanding the capacity of the apron, renovating the taxiway system and constructing the fast lanes for taxiing to enhance the capacity of the passenger terminal. When Macao’s aviation was at its inception, the airport introduced the sub-concession systems to provide airport services such as ground handling service, aviation catering, duty free shops, fuel supply and so on in order to attract foreign investors, hence achieving a win-win situation. After years of operation and with the gradual liberalization of the air transport market around the world, the SAR Government decided not to extend the exclusive rights in the provision of airport services in sub-concession contracts upon their expiry in 2008. In addition, the legislation process of the “Civil Aviation Activity Law” is still underway, it will replace the original concession system with the commercial passenger air transport licensing regime.