Macao International Airport logged a record of 5 million passengers in the first 11 months of this year, the Macau Post Daily reported on Monday.

The newspaper quoted a statistics released by the facility's management company ADA (Administration of Airports Ltd.) as saying that from January to November, the airport recorded 5,033, 653 passengers, up 11 percent year-on-year, but a statistics released earlier showed that cargo throughput, not including mail, dropped 18 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months, amounting to 166, 627 metric tons. The airport, owned by the Macao government and several private investors, opened in November 1995. Although it was designed for an annual passenger movement of six million, plans of gradual renovation and expansion are underway.

In a press statement posted on the airport's official website, Suning Liu, Executive Director of Macau International Airport Co. Ltd, said when the "Macao International Airport Facilities Moderate Expansion Project" is completed, the airport's annual passenger volume will be doubled up to 12 million.

She also said that once the expansion projects are completed, some of the pressures and high demands created by Macao's MICE industry (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) on the airport will be relieved, while more convenient services and better experiences will be provided to the visitors.

The Macao International Airport is the only airport in the city with a population of 528,000.

(Xinhua News Agency, December 10, 2007)