Viva Macau
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Viva Macau Airlines was a Macanese long-haul,
low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
based at Macau International Airport. The airline operated flights to Australia and Asia.”Viva Macau – Con Korfiatis’ Paper Napkin Airline” – Airliners, March/April 2009 In March 2010, Viva Macau was forced to suspend operations after the
Macau government The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Macao Government, is the Executive_(government), executive authorities of Macau. Formed on 20 December 1999 in accordance with the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declarati ...
suddenly ordered Air Macau to cancel its sub-concession agreement with Viva Macau, alleging that Viva Macau failed to adequately assist passengers affected by flight delays and cancellations."Viva Macau Loses Business License," China CSR, 31 March 2010
/ref> The government then quickly revoked Viva Macau's
Air Operator's Certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...
saying that without a sub-concession, the airline was not compliant with the requirements for public air transport services.Macao budget airline suspends operation, stranding 300 travelers
/ref> The action is currently under appeal in the Macau courts and has raised questions for foreign investors regarding Macau's regulatory environment.
/ref>


History

In 1994, the
Macau Government The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Macao Government, is the Executive_(government), executive authorities of Macau. Formed on 20 December 1999 in accordance with the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declarati ...
attracted a
consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...
of investors to start Air Macau with the promise of a 25-year monopoly concession. The carrier set up as a connecting airline for flights between China and Taiwan primarily as well as other
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n countries. Under a sub-concession arrangement with Air Macau, Viva Macau launched new routes from Macau in 2006, pioneering the concept of LCC-type low-cost, long-haul services. Despite Air Macau holding the exclusive concession on all air routes out of Macau, after lengthy negotiations, the government agreed to license the new airline on the condition that any routes Viva Macau wanted to operate had first to be approved by Air Macau. In the years that followed, Viva expanded service with new routes from Macau to
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, Japan and Australia. Viva Macau was named the “New Airline of the Year” in November 2007 by the ''Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation'', due in part to its contribution to the development of the aviation industry and tourism in Macau and across Asia. In September 2009, Viva Macau was voted in the “Top 10 Budget Airlines” by the readers of SmartTravelAsia.com for the second consecutive year. Also in September 2009, Viva Macau become the first Macau-based airline to receive certification from the Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) for Extended Twin Engine Operations (ETOPS). ETOPS is the global standard for efficient long-distance flight operations. Due to Macau's limited workforce, the company employed staff from 28 different countries as well as local labor.


Demise

After the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, the company struggled financially and the Macau SAR government provided financial support to the airline. During 2008–2009, the Macau SAR government lent Viva Macau MOP200 million to help improve the airline's sustainability after taking similar action to rescue Air Macau. On 28 March 2010, the Civil Aviation Authority of Macau ordered Air Macau to cancel its sub-concession agreement with Viva Macau, alleging that Viva Macau failed to adequately assist passengers affected by flight delays and cancellations. The government then quickly revoked Viva Macau's
Air Operator's Certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...
saying that without a sub-concession, the airline was not compliant with the requirements for public air transport services.Announcement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Macau SAR (AACM)
/ref> The action is currently under appeal in the Macau courts and has raised questions for foreign investors regarding Macau's regulatory environment. The Macau SAR government provided assistance to passengers who were stranded because of the suspension of Viva Macau's operations. Viva Macau did plan to resume operations on the 2 April but those plans fell through.


Viva Macau Appeal

In April 2010 Viva commenced an administrative appeal in Macau's courts against the revocation of its license by the Macau government. The appeal was initially rejected by the Macau courts, claiming no involvement by the government.
/ref> Members of US Congress and US State Department called attention to the case, noting that it involved the expropriation of the US investors in Viva Macau. In February 2011, the Macau supreme court overturned earlier rejections, allowing the administrative appeal to proceed and requiring public hearings for the Viva Macau case. According to the Macau court registry website the Viva Macau hearings were scheduled for May/June 2012. The Viva Macau case comes at a time of increasing questions about the rule of law in Macau. In October 2011, the chairman of the local supreme court publicly criticized the Macau government, citing poor decision making in many administrative procedures “resulting from lack of knowledge about the laws and regulations.” The head of the Macau Legal Association cited concerns about bias in the Macau courts in favor of the local government in administrative appeal cases. And, the US Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau publicly highlighted the need for an equitable environment for US businesses, with a transparent rule of law guaranteeing investor rights. Hearings began on May 31, 2012, focusing on the actions of Macau's Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io, who acted with disregard for established official procedures. Viva Macau's former director of engineering, Yok Cheow Lee, is quoted as saying that in his 40 years in the aviation industry he had not “come across any airline being terminated suddenly without a warning and a period of time to justify hy it was having problems” Air Macau stated during the first hearing that it had to terminate the sub-concession contract due to government pressure. Meanwhile, Macau's aviation sector continues to lag after the termination of Viva Macau. In November 2011 Air Macau received an additional US$90 million injection from the Macau government; instead of expanding routes it purchased a fleet of Mercedes Benz limousines. Due to a lack of operating airlines at Macau Airport, the government was forced to bail out the Macau Airport with a US$240 million injection in spring 2012.


Partnership with Air Macau

The de facto national carrier of Macau, Air Macau, had concluded a licensing agreement that allowed Viva Macau to operate (since Air Macau owns the air-traffic rights to destinations that Viva Macau intended to fly to). In addition, Viva Macau was negotiating further co-operation with Air Macau in the form of joint marketing or
codesharing A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
. The two airlines were not expected to compete with each other while Air Macau continued to concentrate on short-haul full-service routes, especially domestic flights to
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
.


Destinations

In its short history, Viva Macau had changed its destinations depending on consumer demand. The airline also operated a number of charter flights to Japan, including Tokyo. It was likely that their routes would have been expanded in the future (including the possibility of scheduled service to Tokyo via Ibaraki Airport).


Fleet

Viva Macau operated the following
Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
aircraft (at 28 March 2010): The acquisition of more aircraft was planned, building up to a fleet of 10-15 aircraft within five years.


Onboard

Viva Macau operated a two-class service – Economy Class and Premium Class. Checked luggage is not included in the ticket price for Economy passengers – they may purchase up to of luggage allowance on check-in. Economy offers of
seat pitch An airline seat is a seat on an airliner in which passengers are accommodated for the duration of the journey. Such seats are usually arranged in rows running across the airplane's fuselage. A diagram of such seats in an aircraft is called an ...
and buy-on-board meal service. Premium passengers receive of seat pitch and free meals as well as of checked luggage included in the ticket price.


See also

*
Transport in Macau Transport in Macau includes road, sea, rail and air transport. Road transport is the primary mode of transport within Macau, although a new rail system opened in December 2019 serving the areas of Taipa and Cotai. The main forms of public tran ...
* Macau International Airport * AirAsia X


References


Low-cost airlines making their way to Japan

Japan News Review
18/12 2007
Viva Awarded CAPA New Airline of The Year 2007
-


External links


Viva Macau official site
{{Transport in China Defunct airlines of Macau Defunct low-cost airlines Airlines established in 2005 Airlines disestablished in 2010 Defunct airlines of China 1995 establishments in Macau 2010 disestablishments in Macau