Air Macau became the latest carrier to take delivery of Airbus’s new A320neo aircraft on Tuesday April 29, marking the first in a delivery of eight more A320neos and A321neos that will join the fleet of the Chinese Special Administrative Region’s flag carrier.
Air Macau’s fleet now includes 21 Airbus aircraft, including four A319ceos, six A320ceos and 10 A321ceos.
Set up in a two-class configuration, the aircraft will feature eight seats in the business class cabin and 150 seats in economy class.
Air Macau will deploy the new aircraft on its regional services, an Airbus press release states. This presumably means flights other than the airline’s mainland China services – the majority of its routes – which occupy a bit of a grey area between domestic and regional given Macau’s status as an SAR.
Outside of mainland China, Air Macau operates flights to: Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka in Japan; Seoul in South Korea; Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan; Manila in the Philippines; Danang and Hanoi in Vietnam; and Bangkok in Thailand.
Macau remains a small aviation hub given its close proximity to China’s other SAR, Hong Kong, which has a more prominent airport. Links between Macau and Hong Kong have also been growing, especially with the completion last year of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB), which has off-airport check-in services at dedicated HZMB border crossing facilities.
Other airlines, notably Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific, also codeshare with ferry services linking Macau and Hong Kong.
Business Traveller Asia-Pacific recently reviewed Cotai Water Jet’s first class offering from Macau to Hong Kong.