MENZIES MACAU AIRPORT SERVICES LTD
LANDING THE CARGO
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MENZIES MACAU AIRPORT
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Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd has over 25 years’ experience providing a full portfolio of aircraft ground services for passenger and cargo aircraft at Macau Airport. Managing Director Raymond Lo outlined the company’s plans for growth in conversation with Phil Nicholls. 84
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acau Airport qualifies as one of the world’s most unusual airports. Based in the densely populated special administration region of China, the small size of the Macau peninsular means that land is in great demand. Thus, the runway is built on reclaimed land in the Pearl River estuary. Surrounded by water, the Macau runway is large enough for 747s to land, with two narrow causeways allowing the aircraft to reach the shore. Managing the services at this unique airport is Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd, a joint venture between Menzies Aviation, Air Macau, EVA Air, CNAC and local business leaders. Menzies Macau was established in 1994 as a full-service aircraft handling provider, offering a broad portfolio of passenger, cargo and aircraft services. The Passenger Service Department employs an advanced computerised checkin system and supervises the arrival, boarding and transfer of passengers. The multi-lingual team also provide specialist services like VIP-escort and wheelchair assistance. Menzies Macau is proud of its Passenger Service Department receiving AHS1000 certification; an IATA-recognised award for consistent performance. At the Macau International Airport Cargo Terminal, Menzies Macau provides loading/ unloading, warehousing, screening and onward logistics services. Its 7,800sqm warehouses are equipped with the latest
equipment to securely store high-value goods or maintain temperature-sensitive items in suitable conditions. The facilities at Macau include a live animal room and a suite of X-ray machines. To support cargo operations at the airport, Menzies Macau owns two remote cargo warehouses in mainland China. Both external warehouses are located close to the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, about 100km away from Macau. Guangzhou Airport is the fourth-largest cargo airport in China, handling 2 million tonnes of freight annually. These Guangzhou warehouses enable Menzies Macau to offer end-to-end cargo transit services and feature prominently in the company’s plans. Menzies Macau Airport Services operates ground services operations for airline customers. Safety and security are their number one priority. It handles every commercial flight that arrives and departs from Macau International Airport with an exemplary record for safety and punctuality. These services include check-in, boarding and arrivals, aircraft loading and unloading, along with towing aircraft around the distinct airport layout. Menzies Macau deploys 1,200 pieces of equipment, both motorised and non-motorised. Finally, Menzies Macau offers a suite of aircraft line maintenance services with a team of qualified mechanics with CAA, CAAC and FAA licences. The team Inside Industry
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provides routine line inspection services, pre-flight checks and fuelling supervision. Menzies Macau mechanics are also capable of additional services such as rectifying defects and reporting technical irregularities.
Hit by Covid To provide these diverse services, Menzies Macau Airport Services currently employs about 490 people. This is down from the preCovid levels of 800 employees. The ongoing impact of the pandemic is still affecting Macau airport and thus Menzies Macau. Managing Director Raymond Lo highlighted the cause: “Passengers will come back gradually, but not until the Macau government or Chinese government changes it’s Covid Zero policy. Right now, we are still under this policy, which is greatly affecting tourism and the airport.” Pre-Covid, Menzies Macau handled an average of 100 flights per day. In contrast, during the pandemic this has fallen to 20 flights per day. Mr Lo was confident that the passenger numbers will bounce back at Macau, but it may take until 2025 before the average number of flights will build up to between 70 and 80 flights per day. “The future depends upon China’s Covid policies,” he said, “Because Macau is a tourist
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destination, and a lot of our tourists come from China.” Fortunately for Menzies Macau Airport Services, the company also processes cargo. Despite the impact of Covid, the volume of cargo bounced back in 2021 and is now higher than pe-Covid levels. Mr Lo recently returned to the role of Managing Director this year, having previously worked for the company between 2009 and 2019, before moving to Canada. Today, he sees a bright future for Menzies Macau following the growth in cargo services.
Forwarding cargo “My focus nowadays, from when I came back to the company, is how to build our cargo market,” Mr Lo explained. “How to attract cargo to Macau Airport, instead of going through Hong Kong, Shenzhen Bao’an or Guangzhou Baiyun.” Mr Lo is overseeing the rearrangement of warehouse space at Macau airport, increasing the area available for freight. Menzies Macau is also exploring the options for subcontracting some of the cargo forwarding services to help with any surge in demand. The bulk of cargo flying out of China is controlled by powerful cargo
forwarders in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. This situation can help boost Macau airport, because there is a closed border between China and Hong Kong. As no such border exists for Macau, Mr Lo regularly visits the cargo forwarders in Guangzhou and Shenzhen to build those vital personal relationships that help drive new business. Hong Kong handles 5 million tonnes of cargo annually, while Macau takes less than 1% of this volume. Mr Lo is certain there is scope for cargo expansion at Macau. “We can have growth of 10 to 20%, if we find a suitable cargo forwarder partner who uses Macau as their international airport instead of Hong Kong.” Menzies Macau is expanding its external warehouse network with additional facilities in Zhuhai, 9km up the Pearl River from Macau. The plan is to begin processing cargo at Zhuhai, before then shipping it onwards to Macau. In conjunction with the existing warehouses at Guangzhou, the growing network of cargo facilities is geared up towards processing more cargo through Macau. Mr Lo’s monthly visits to the cargo forwarders in Guangzhou and Shenzhen is steadily building up the reputation of
Macau airport and laying the foundation for the expanded cargo services. These face-to-face contacts are vital to building personal relationships. Forming these close connections is easier for a smaller airport like Macau, in comparison to somewhere much larger.
Building a runway success With the pieces falling into place for an expansion of cargo services at Macau, there are still challenges facing Mr Lo and his colleagues. Away from Covid, the greatest of these is the foreign worker quota operating in Macau. “The problem is that we rely heavily on manual workers,” Mr Lo said. “If we don’t have sufficient manual workers, then we have limits on our growth.” The unemployment rate in Macau is steadily growing, which makes the government reluctant to approve the hiring of foreign workers. However, Menzies Macau struggles to fill vacancies for the manual workers required to operate many
of its services. This is especially true of the cargo handling roles. Mr Lo is eager for the Macau government to understand the special circumstances operating at the airport and duly approve additional foreign manual workers to facilitate further growth. To mitigate these employment challenges, Menzies Macau launched a vocational training school to build up a pool of up to 100 trained staff. The availability of this trained workforce available at short notice will allow Menzies Macau Airport Services to respond swiftly to new opportunities. The local Covid restrictions will end at some point, so the company is prepared to respond to any sudden growth in flights at Macau airport. It is challenges like this which brought Mr Lo back to this unusual airport in the role of Managing Director at Menzies Macau. “I like the job; I like facing different challenges every day. I like to drive the business forward and see the changes as we push towards success,” he concluded. n
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