City flag carrier Air Macau Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of state-owned Mainland China operator Air China Ltd., saw no boost in the number of passengers and a decline in passenger load factor for the first quarter of this year, according to the latest operating results released by Air China. For the January to March period this year, Air Macau carried 511,600 passengers, a year-on-year drop of 0.82 per cent. This number contrasts sharply with the nearly 21 per cent yearly increase in passengers the airline carried in the same period last year. The passenger load factor of Air Macau in the first quarter has also dropped by 3.98 percentage points year-on-year to 65.2 per cent. The latest results disclosed by Air Macau’s parent does not include the profit figure the airline earned in the first quarter but it noted that Air Macau’s ‘RPK’ (revenue passenger kilometres) – a measure of sales volume of passenger traffic – amounted to 870.2 million yuan (US$140.4 million), representing a slight drop of 0.03 per cent. Air Macau has already seen its profit after tax for last year tumble by about half year-on-year to 106 million yuan as the growth of its aviation and transport business slowed in the period. The passenger load factor for the whole of last year has only edged up 0.29 percentage points to 68.2 per cent. Regional competition Air Macau’s revenue generated from its aviation and transport business grew 3.85 per cent last year to 2.64 billion yuan, a decelerated pace when compared to the 9.27 per cent of growth seen in the previous year, according to Air China’s annual results reports filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In terms of cargo traffic, the city’s flag carrier has seen its ‘RTK’ (revenue tonnes kilometres) reach 92.3 million yuan for the first quarter, almost the same as the same period last year. The airline’s ‘RTK’ is a measure of revenue generated by tonnes of cargo carried multiplied by distance flown. Air Macau’s ‘ATK’ (available tonnes kilometre) load factor in the first three months this year is also down by 3.78 percentage points year-on-year to 59.7 per cent, according to the latest operating results. Air Macau, which is 66.9 per cent owned by its parent Air China, flies to over 20 destinations, a majority of which are Mainland Chinese cities. The airline’s chairman, Zheng Yan, told reporters earlier this year that the company’s performance in 2014 had been affected by regional competition and pressure on lowering flight fares. Nevertheless, the flag carrier is set to develop more regional routes this year, in particular to Bangkok and Vietnam as well as major cities in South Korea and Japan.
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