The average daily passenger traffic on maritime passenger routes between Hong Kong and Macau during the four-day Easter holiday ranged from 26,000 to 27,000, the Marine and Water Bureau’s (DSAMA) Port Affairs Division Chief Chu Chan Wai told reporters at the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On yesterday.
According to Chu, the daily passenger traffic on the Hong Kong and Macau ferry routes in 2019 was 33,000, and since the resumption of ferry services in January, the daily passenger traffic on the routes has averaged between 13,000 and 14,000, recovering to about 40 percent of the level before the outbreak.
Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case in January 2020.
A representative of Cotai Water Jet, Huang Bo Sen, told the media at the terminal his company added four round trips to its normal daily schedule of 12 between Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal and Taipa Ferry Terminal during the Easter holidays.
However, Huang said the increase in ferry frequency depended on a number of factors such as the need for vessels to undergo maintenance and inspections before being put into service, as well as the massive loss of senior crew from Hong Kong over the past three years due to the suspension of services because of the pandemic.
TurboJET Macau Routes Director Ng Sio In told reporters the company has also increased the number of ferry sailings, which reached 30 round trips per day during the Easter holidays, while the seat occupancy rate per trip was about 70 percent.
Ng said TurboJET will provide a ferry every 15 minutes from Hong Kong to the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal and Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On from mid-May, with a regular half-hourly service to the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal and at least an hourly service to the Taipa Ferry Terminal for the night service, but does not expect the early morning service to be resumed in the near future.
This photo taken yesterday shows ferry passengers disembarking at the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal. – Photo courtesy of TDM
