Macau Airport

Functional is probably the best description for this airport. The only reason I use it is for short business trips of up to 4 hrs rather than going to Hong Kong and back which is tiresome even if you are flying business class. Given all the investment in Macau they have really got to do something and quick to serve the travelling public better. There are signs that improvements are on the way but it could all be too little too late. The Immigration clearance is tortuous heaven knows what will happen if this airport really does go international and the passenger throughput increases substantially.

I have used it three times in the last 6 months each time flying to and from BKK. I am based in Shenzhen the Chinese border city with Hong Kong and on paper it seems reasonable to use Macao. In fact it is a long and tortuous trip to get there regardless of which route you try and I am surprised at the idea that anyone from here or from Hong Kong itself would do it unless forced to. Except when things are very busy it will usually be just as cheap and much less hassle to fly from Hong Kong. The ferry from HK arrives at the ferry port which is not beside or properly linked to the airport. It does have an airside shuttle bus to the airport but that departs at very long intervals and so is usually not going to match your needs and I have not succeeded in using it yet. On Jan 8th when I last arrived from BKK I also noticed that it had been suspended. The AP1 bus service is a joke as it still goes round in circles to get to the airport. It starts at the Chinese border but in fact does not stop at the ferry terminal which is the only other important point for it to stop where a lot of passengers for the airport might be expected. Immigration is indeed quick because the airport is so quiet but in general that is about the only plus point here. The facilities are few - only one rather poor food outlet in departures and nothing at all seemingly in the check in area. In fact there seems to be almost nothing available in the range between pot noodles and LV handbags in the whole place. Toilets are tiny even for an airport of its size. At the departure gate for my flight (Gate 2) people had to walk backwards on the escalator because the space at the bottom was too small to hold everyone coming down while boarding cards were being checked. The main business of the airport at the moment seems to be for Taiwanese passengers transiting from the Mainland. If regular direct flights ever start I don't see any way that this airport can survive.

I have used it three times in the last 6 months each time flying to and from BKK. I am based in Shenzhen the Chinese border city with Hong Kong and on paper it seems reasonable to use Macao. In fact it is a long and tortuous trip to get there regardless of which route you try and I am surprised at the idea that anyone from here or from Hong Kong itself would do it unless forced to. Except when things are very busy it will usually be just as cheap and much less hassle to fly from Hong Kong. The ferry from HK arrives at the ferry port which is not beside or properly linked to the airport. It does have an airside shuttle bus to the airport but that departs at very long intervals and so is usually not going to match your needs and I have not succeeded in using it yet. On Jan 8th when I last arrived from BKK I also noticed that it had been suspended. The AP1 bus service is a joke as it still goes round in circles to get to the airport. It starts at the Chinese border but in fact does not stop at the ferry terminal which is the only other important point for it to stop where a lot of passengers for the airport might be expected. Immigration is indeed quick because the airport is so quiet but in general that is about the only plus point here. The facilities are few - only one rather poor food outlet in departures and nothing at all seemingly in the check in area. In fact there seems to be almost nothing available in the range between pot noodles and LV handbags in the whole place. Toilets are tiny even for an airport of its size. At the departure gate for my flight (Gate 2) people had to walk backwards on the escalator because the space at the bottom was too small to hold everyone coming down while boarding cards were being checked. The main business of the airport at the moment seems to be for Taiwanese passengers transiting from the Mainland. If regular direct flights ever start I don't see any way that this airport can survive.

A very compact airport with only 8 boarding gates serving a handful of airlines. It is fast becoming a budget airline hub with both Thai Air Asia and Singapore's Tiger Airways arriving. It is surprisingly clean modern very bright and comfortable fusing (or borrowing) some designing concepts from the airports at both Hong Kong and Shanghai Pudong. For a small airport it certainly has a quite a number of DFS and branded good shops inside the departure waiting area. There is only 1 food outlet though and the toilets can get pretty packed if there are many flights. Clearing customs is efficient and effortless. I agree with the previous comment about the AP-1. Shuttle bis it is NOT. Not only does some of the drivers do not understand English it is frustrating to go a merry go round Macau when all you want is to get into the city (or to the airport) quickly. Take the taxi - it only costs about 50 patacas to reach Centro Macau (where Senado Square is) from the airport on Taipa Island.

A very compact airport with only 8 boarding gates serving a handful of airlines. It is fast becoming a budget airline hub with both Thai Air Asia and Singapore's Tiger Airways arriving. It is surprisingly clean modern very bright and comfortable fusing (or borrowing) some designing concepts from the airports at both Hong Kong and Shanghai Pudong. For a small airport it certainly has a quite a number of DFS and branded good shops inside the departure waiting area. There is only 1 food outlet though and the toilets can get pretty packed if there are many flights. Clearing customs is efficient and effortless. I agree with the previous comment about the AP-1. Shuttle bis it is NOT. Not only does some of the drivers do not understand English it is frustrating to go a merry go round Macau when all you want is to get into the city (or to the airport) quickly. Take the taxi - it only costs about 50 patacas to reach Centro Macau (where Senado Square is) from the airport on Taipa Island.

Macau airport is surprisingly bright efficient and very convenient. I travelled from Macau to Singapore using the brand new Tiger Airways. It was the first day that the airline flies this route. There were full of reporters and TV cameramen on site for the event. However the airport handled it beautifully without undue delay to passengers. One word of advise try not to use the public transportation AP-1. It is really not the regular airporter. I travelled from the Macau- Zhuhai border to the airport on AP-1 ($3.30 Macau dollars) and it took a good 40 minutes. In fact the bus travelled almost the whole part of Macau and the outlying island before reaching the airport. It was absolutely frustrating especially when you see the airport from the distance but the bus just repeately refuse to get there until finishing the rounds. But then if you have time and want to see Macau take this AP-1. The design of the terminal is tall bright and pleasant. The departure is on the second floor while the arrival is on the ground floor. There is a Chinese restaurant on the far left of the departure hall. If you travel from Hong Kong you can use the direct link without the need to go through the Macau immigration. The cost is HK$51. However it is really not recommended unless you are in a hurry. Try to find time to have a stop over in Macau and enjoy the food there. The food at Hotel Lisboa's Gallery Restaurant is very good so do other places. But please do not take the advise from any taxi driver. They got paid by taking you to some restaurants or places where they will wipe you off. I was almost like "robbed" at day light by having the HK$1000 soup some years ago. Last week the taxi driver tried the same trick again!

Macau airport is surprisingly bright efficient and very convenient. I travelled from Macau to Singapore using the brand new Tiger Airways. It was the first day that the airline flies this route. There were full of reporters and TV cameramen on site for the event. However the airport handled it beautifully without undue delay to passengers. One word of advise try not to use the public transportation AP-1. It is really not the regular airporter. I travelled from the Macau- Zhuhai border to the airport on AP-1 ($3.30 Macau dollars) and it took a good 40 minutes. In fact the bus travelled almost the whole part of Macau and the outlying island before reaching the airport. It was absolutely frustrating especially when you see the airport from the distance but the bus just repeately refuse to get there until finishing the rounds. But then if you have time and want to see Macau take this AP-1. The design of the terminal is tall bright and pleasant. The departure is on the second floor while the arrival is on the ground floor. There is a Chinese restaurant on the far left of the departure hall. If you travel from Hong Kong you can use the direct link without the need to go through the Macau immigration. The cost is HK$51. However it is really not recommended unless you are in a hurry. Try to find time to have a stop over in Macau and enjoy the food there. The food at Hotel Lisboa's Gallery Restaurant is very good so do other places. But please do not take the advise from any taxi driver. They got paid by taking you to some restaurants or places where they will wipe you off. I was almost like "robbed" at day light by having the HK$1000 soup some years ago. Last week the taxi driver tried the same trick again!

Macau is about an hour from Hong Kong by ferry. A lot of Chinese use it to escape the hassle of Hong Kong immigrations. It is a small clean airport with friendly and efficient immigrations and Macau is a nice stopover for 1 or 2 days. Then take the ferry to Hong Kong as lots of Chinese do. They even have a special gate to connect to te Hong Kong ferry right away. On clear days you can see Hong Kong when approaching Macao.

Macau is about an hour from Hong Kong by ferry. A lot of Chinese use it to escape the hassle of Hong Kong immigrations. It is a small clean airport with friendly and efficient immigrations and Macau is a nice stopover for 1 or 2 days. Then take the ferry to Hong Kong as lots of Chinese do. They even have a special gate to connect to te Hong Kong ferry right away. On clear days you can see Hong Kong when approaching Macao.

MFM has proven itself as a vibrant airport over these few years since it opened in the 1990s. To depart MFM it's easier than a wink of the eye as all formalities could be completed in less than 10 minutes and reaching to the departure gate is easy too as it's just a few minutes walk away. Arriving at MFM is even easier as the queues are relatively non-existence. Airport staff are courteous and the ambience is good generally very clean everywhere.