The impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on global air transport is without precedent. Airports have seen a 28.4 per cent decline in global passenger traffic volumes for the first quarter of 2020, equivalent to a reduction of 612 million passengers in absolute terms. These volumes (domestic and international traffic) are expected to decrease by 50.4 per cent for 2020 as a whole as compared to 2019 figures, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) stated and published the " Take-off: COVID-19 Public Health Crisis Air Travel Guide”, with four operational modules relating to airport, aircraft, crew and cargo. This document provides a framework for addressing the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on the global aviation transportation system. ICAO recommends a phased approach, introduces a core set of measures to form a baseline aviation health safety protocol to protect air passengers and aviation workers from COVID-19. Chairman of Executive Committee of Macau International Airport Company Limited (CAM) Dr. Deng Jun, Executive Director Mr. Chu Tan Ning, Executive Director Mr. Lei Si Tai invited the President of Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) Mr. Simon Chan, Vice President Mr. Stanley Pun and others to investigate facilities onsite at the passenger terminal building, business terminal and cargo warehouse at Macau International Airport (MIA). Representatives of various parties combined with the situation of epidemic prevention and industry recovery planning, clarified the current situation to the authorities, and put forward suggestions for discussion under the policy of the SAR government. Representatives of all parties introduced the current situation with epidemic prevention and industry recovery planning, and made full discussions on recommendations under the SAR Government’s policy.

Macau International Airport has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the SAR Government since 1st January this year, to begin measuring body temperature for Wuhan visitors to Macao.  After the outbreak of the COVID-19, Macau International Airport, as the only local international airport, in addition to working closely with the CDC, was also concerned about other entities in the civil aviation industry affected by the epidemic. CAM established an Epidemic Prevention Response Working Group in January and recommended to introduce various incentive policies to stimulate the market, hoping to share the difficulties with other entities under the severe operating environment. At present, two rounds of relief measures for airlines and airport operators have been launched, which are intended to relieve and alleviate the operating pressure on the aviation industry caused by the epidemic.

As the impact of the COVID-19 continues, some countries and regions continue to impose immigration restrictions on passengers, which has a direct impact on the air transport industry. Passengers at Macau International Airport maintained negative growth in Q2. The relaxation of immigration policy in cities like Taipei in June resulting in passenger traffic doubled from May, but still a drop of more than 99.9% compared with last June. To prepare for the epidemic prevention and recovery work, CAM Airport Operations Department arranged the cleaning company to have regularly disinfection and cleaning on the passenger terminal facilities, installed a total of 40 liquid disinfection machines, and carried out installation of the "one meter distance" signage and other social distance protection equipment.

The Managing Director of Menzies Macau Airport Services Mr. Mark Campbell introduced that the airport cargo facility with an area of more than 7,000 square meters can accommodate up to 100,000 tons of cargo. There are four x-ray machines and a comprehensive trucking network to handle various types of cargo, such as valuables, perishables, pharmaceutical cargo, etc., with storage rooms that meet the different needs of the goods, including cold room, freezer room, etc. The existing security design of the cargo facility meets the requirements of ICAO. In the case of restricted flights, the airport's cargo volume fell by nearly 30% year-on-year in Q2.

General Manager of Macau Business Aviation Center Limited (MBAC) Mr. Daniel Tang and General Manager of TAG Aviation Asia (Macau) Limited Ms. Rita Tam introduced the anti-epidemic measures for crew members and passengers, and aircraft disinfection during the outbreak, the business aviation business and limitations. They suggested the AACM could study the relaxation of entry restrictions from transit passengers, and shared their experience and reference cases in other regions. Due to restrictions on immigration control policies in various regions, the number of business aviation dropped by more than 90% in Q2.

ICAO estimates that by the end of 2020, the COVID-19 impact on scheduled international passenger traffic could reach reductions of up to 71% of seat capacity and up to 1.5 billion passengers globally. Airlines and airports face a potential loss of revenue of up to USD 314 billion and USD 100 billion respectively, for 2020.

Director of Airport Infrastructure and Air Navigation of AACM Mr. Taft Lam and Senior Technician of AACM Ms. Melinda Ho; Director of Executive Committee Office of CAM Ms. Katy Lo, Director of Corporate Communication & Policy Research Office Ms. Vicki Mou and Director of Airport Operations Department Mr. Antonio Barros and others have also participated in the inspection.