Macao Sees Record Number of Air Passengers

The Macao International Airport handled a total of 360,900 passengers in August, hitting a monthly record since the airport went into operation in 1995, statistics showed on Monday.

The sound performance is mainly attributed to the increasing influx of tourists along with improving tourism image of the region.

According to statistics, the number of air passengers reached 2. 56 million in the first eight months of this year, up nearly 20 percent from the same period of last year.

In the meantime, the airport handled a total of 43,300 tons of cargo in the eight-month period, up 3.7 percent.

The number of airplane landing and taking-off reached more than 21,300 in the eight months, an increase of 12.7 percent from the same period last year.

With an investment of more than US$1 billion, the Macao airport was built on a patch of land reclaimed from the sea, consisting of a parking area, two bridge approaches and a runway.

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