Viva Macau has received a loan from the Macau Government to help it improve its finances.
The airline's CEO Reg Macdonald declines to say how much the loan is for but local news reports, quoting Macau's secretary for economy and finance, Francis Tam, says the loan is for 200 million Macau patacas ($25 million).
It is to ensure the sustainability of the airline, says Tam.
Macdonald says the global economic downturn from mid-2008 through all of 2009 was a difficult period for the airline and other carriers.
Viva Macau, over the years, has made monthly profits but Macdonald declines to give a forecast on when it will make a full-year.
The carrier faces a number of challenges, namely it has to create new markets by flying on routes that no other passenger carriers have served before, says Macdonald.
It also faces the same challenge that Macau itself faces - ensuring that Macau becomes top of mind as a leisure destination and transit hub.
This involves a lot of destination marketing, he adds.
The other challenge is that Viva Macau only has three Boeing 767s and has yet to achieve economies of scale, says Macdonald, who estimates that this will be achieved with a fifth or sixth aircraft. Viva Macau plans to add a fourth aircraft in this year's first half, he adds.
The airline is launching a Macau-Hanoi service on 13 February and plans to launch services to India this year, says Macdonald. It can do this even if its fleet remains at three aircraft, he adds.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
