Viva Macau increases services in response to strong Melbourne market
14-Jan-2010 Melbourne Airport has welcomed Viva Macau's decision to increase services from Melbourne, with an additional weekly flight commencing from March 28 this year. The announcement comes after Viva Macau's decision to temporarily suspend its service to Sydney.
Melbourne Airport CEO, Chris Woodruff said: "This is a terrific win for Melbourne and the State of Victoria. Viva Macau's decision highlights the strength of the Melbourne market and the airport's partnership approach in bringing more direct flights to our State.
"We work hard to make Melbourne attractive to the airline market by keeping our costs low and maximising key advantages such as our single terminal precinct and curfew free operations. Viva Macau's decision is proof this approach is working," he said.
"Last year we also launched stage one of our $330m international terminal expansion, providing passengers a world-class facility and more A380 compatible boarding gates to support our rapid growth," he said. Viva Macau launched services from Melbourne in December 2009 - the third international airline that month to commence flights from Melbourne Airport for the first time.
"We were thrilled to see V Australia, Qatar Airways and then Viva Macau launch international services from Melbourne in the one month," Mr. Woodruff said. "To see Viva Macau already increasing their flight offering is testament to the strong demand for services in and out of Melbourne.
Qatar Airways also increased capacity from Melbourne earlier this year, progressing to daily services. V Australia will launch services to Johannesburg in March and Qantas is soon to launch A380 services on the London - Melbourne route.
"We are excited to further our partnership with Viva Macau and build access to and from China. China is currently our number one long-haul market and through our Chinese Visitors Program, our airport is working hard to further support this important market" Mr. Woodruff said.