MACAU – Viva Macau chief executive Con Corfiatis has pleaded for his airline to be given a fair go.
Destination Macau reports that Corfiatis and Air Macau CEO David Fei have been trading barbs in the columns of the English-language Macau Post daily newspaper.
Corfiatis says he is not asking for special treatment, just the right to run his airline on routes that are clearly not being served by the incumbent monopoly operator of air services from Macau.
Fei says that “Viva Macau is not restricted as to where it can fly, as long as Air Macau approves it,†while Korfiatis points out that Air Macau has consistently denied Viva the right to fly certain routes, and then made no attempt to serve those routes itself.
He has also highlighted the comments made by Simon Cooper, president of the Ritz-Carlton hotel group, that Macau has been struggling to create international demand because of the lack of direct flights.
“They have an airport but have not created the routes,†Cooper was quoted as saying.
TravelMole also understands that Air Macau receives royalties from Viva Macau for granting Viva permission to fly its routes.
