Introduction

An Air Services Agreement is an agreement which two countries sign to allow civil aviation activities between their territories. 

Although Macao SAR is part of China and is not a country itself, as stipulated in Article 117 of the Basic Law that Macao SAR “may formulate on its own various systems for the civil aviation management, with the authorization of the Central People’s Government”, Macao SAR enjoys the autonomy to conclude and sign a bilateral Air Services Agreement with a foreign country. Taiwan and Hong Kong SAR are also integral parts of China; these two cities, therefore, cannot be served as intermediate points or beyond points in the route schedule concluded by Macao SAR and a foreign country in an Air Services Agreement.

The SAR government has adopted very liberal air transport policies for many years, and most of the provisions laid down in the ASA between the Macao SAR and foreign countries are very open, such as granting fifth freedom traffic rights, allowing principal place of business, multiple designation of airlines, unlimited capacity entitlement and so on. Up till this present moment, Macao has established air services agreements with 50 countries, of which 41 have been officially signed. Please see here below the list of countries.

The opening of air services and the increase of flight frequency are driven by the market and determined by the commercial decisions of the airlines. Airlines will consider factors such as market maturity or potential, the ability to sustain sufficient passenger demand, operational costs, and more when deciding to explore new routes or increase the number of flights.