Viva Macau’s Air Operating Certificate revoked
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The Macau SAR government has obtained Air Macau’s consent to terminate its contract with Viva Macau. The move was announced at a press conference held by Macau’s Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT), with the Civil Aviation Authority (AACM), the Consumer Council and other related departments.
The President of the AACM, Chan Weng Hong, said the government was concerned about the negative impacts of Viva Macau grounding flights. Viva Macau failed to operate flights over the weekend due to fuel payment issues, and the GGCT was forced to help 90 stranded passengers, scheduled to depart for Hanoi and Melbourne, to find hotel accommodation. Mr Chan added that Viva Macau had not provided the necessary information when the government tried to assist stranded passengers, such as the list of passenger names, which slowed the process of helping those affected.
The termination of Viva Macau’s sub-concession contract means that the airline is no longer compliant with the basic requirements for public air transport services in Macau, and has had its Air Operator Certificate revoked by the AACM. The government added that it would now take legal action to recover a MOP200 million (US$24.6 million) loan it had granted to Viva Macau between 2008 and 2009.
The GGCT said the Macau government would continue to help Macau residents stranded overseas and foreign visitors stranded in Macau.
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