China-Portugal route an opportunity

Macau has “clear potential” to develop as a gateway between the Greater China Region and Portugal. This is the result of the study by University of Saint Joseph academics Harry Xia and Kevin Yu regarding the development of Macau air transportation.
From 2012 to 2014, the number of passengers taking flights from China to Lisbon more than doubled to 45,546 from 21,596 (increasing 110.9 per cent), according to data collected by the authors. This expanding market is said to present Macau with the opportunity to aggregate flights heading to Portugal.
“There is a clear pattern of high volume travel in summer between July and September with steady year-on-year growth between China and Portugal. The peak monthly volume was close to 5,000 while the annual volume reached 45,456 in 2014, which provides enough market potential for Macau to introduce such a route in the near future”, the authors explained.
While in 2012 some 21,596 passengers flew from the airports of Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao and Shenzhen to Lisbon, in 2013 that number increased to 33,028 passengers (52.94 per cent year-on-year). Finally, last year that number increased to 45,546 passengers, an increase of 37.90 per cent year on year.
During these two years, the airports registering the largest increase were Shanghai Pudong, with a gain of 8,134 passengers in two years, and Hong Kong Airport, with more 7,740 travelling to Lisbon. Concerning the capital of China, Beijing increased in two years the number of passengers travelling to Portugal by 7,008 to 11,622 in 2014 from 4,614 in 2012.
Brazil: a distant possibility
While Portugal is painted as a destination that could be included in the long-term plan for the future of Macau’s air transportation industry, the only Portuguese-speaking country in South America, Brazil, is excluded from the list.
The reason for this, according to the authors, is the lack of passengers travelling from China’s main airports to Brasilia, the capital of the South American country.
“Travel volume between China and Brazil, another important Portuguese-speaking country in South America, is at a relatively low level. The peak month volume was 170 and annual volume was 790 in 2014, which doesn’t support a dedicated route between Macau and Brazil at this point”, Mr. Xia and Mr. Yu say.
However, it is worth mentioning that the study does not count the number of passengers travelling to the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo, which registered a total of 39.6 million passengers in 2014, while the Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport in Brasilia registered a volume of 18.1 million passengers.