The Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) announced Friday that the Macau SAR Government had received approval from China’s central government to proceed with a land reclamation project to allow a major expansion of Macau International Airport.
While no timeline has yet been provided for the project, when complete it will see an additional 130 hectares of reclaimed land made available and increase the handling capacity of the airport to 15 million passengers per year. The airport handled 9.6 million passengers in 2019.
In a statement, AACM said it “promises to continue to coordinate with all parties and monitor Macau International Airport Company Limited to execute the preparation for the project.
“The expansion of the airport will consolidate the position of Macau as a world tourism and leisure hub and diversify the economic market, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of Macau International Airport in the Pearl River Delta Region,” it said.
The expansion project is far from a new concept, with the Macau government issuing its initial approval in July 2016 and submitting its application to Beijing in February 2017. Since then, the AACM has conducted a water flow study in response to requests from mainland ministries, which led to the expansion layout being amended.
It also produced four reports on flood control, the impact of navigation, the use of surrounding water areas and on environmental impact, with a final application for the land reclamation project submitted to the mainland government in August 2021.
AACM explained that the land reclamation project will includes reclaiming the water areas between the runway and the two taxiways to expand the capacity of the apron in order to build more aircraft stands and construct the fast lanes for taxiing. It will maintain the present runway length but extend the runway end safety areas in order to fulfil the new safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and will create a water channel of 95 meters in width between the runway and the apron. The superstructure will greatly increase the capacity of the passenger terminal, the capacity of the general aviation facilities as well as the capacity of the runway.
“AACM is confident that the enhancement of the airport infrastructures, the optimization of the terminal facilities, the gradual resumption of flight services and the expansion of the aviation network will offer more diversified services to both the Macao residents and the travellers from the Pearl River Delta Region,” it said.
