Viva Macau - Cheap Flights Macau to Australia & Asia
| Viva Macau is a 'budget' carrier based in Macau (China) flying to regional and long-haul destinations. Started in December 2006, it currently flies to from Macau (MFM) to Jakarta (CGK) in Indonesia, Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) in Vietnam and Sydney (SYD) in Australia. |
The 3-x-weekly Macau - Sydney service commenced at the end of August 2007 in the hope of tapping the demand for tourists visiting hotspot Macau, the gaming capital of Asia. Macau has become the 'Las Vegas of the Orient' with many new hotels and leisure facilities to be added in the next few years.
Viva Macau runs leased Boeing 767s configured to 2 classes. Premium Class (premium economy) offers a generous 45" seat pitch in a 2-2-2 layout. Economy Class passengers sit in a standard 2-3-2 formation and will have to purchase meals and drinks on board.
However, prices for Sydney - Macau are not overwhelmingly cheap at the moment. One-way fares are priced from AU$199 plus taxes, meaning the cheapest return fare costs AU$750 all-in (about £365 / US $715). Premium Class will set you back AU$1,800 all-in (£875, US$1,715 which looks pretty expensive.) As with all 'budget' airlines you will also be able to purchase one-way fares only, which could be useful to some passengers.
This is the first direct link between Sydney and Macau. The base economy fare is one of the cheaper ways of flying direct from Sydney to Asia, slightly undercutting the major carriers and similar in price to Qantas Jetstar services. Air Asia X flies from Kuala Lumpur to Australia (Gold Coast, Perth) with some lower promotional fare deals.
In future, Viva Macau will be looking to expand their route network to more cities in Asia and eventually flights to Europe and North America. They are likely to use the new generation of fuel efficient aircraft such as Boeing's 787 'DreamLiner' or Airbus A350. Their success will depend whether they can compete on price with the likes of Air Asia and gain a good foothold on the increasingly popular Macau hub.
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