Macau, China, June 25, 2025 (Lusa) - Macau’s Portuguese MP José Pereira Coutinho on Wednesday called for direct flights to Portugal and emphasised that adjustments to annual financial aid for residents of the Chinese region will affect pensioners in Portugal.
“We have to transform Macau International Airport, with direct flights to Europe, particularly to Portugal,” said Coutinho, after presenting the Nova Esperança political programme to the local parliament.
The lawyer stated that the world’s largest long-haul aircraft can land in Macau, and the airport requires additional space to park the aircraft, a problem he said he hoped the infrastructure expansion would resolve.
The airport expansion, launched in November, involves the construction of a landfill covering more than 129 hectares, and the project team expects to complete it in 2030, increasing capacity from 9.6 million to 13 million passengers per year.
“We hope that in the future we can start our journey in Macau, our home, and that international flights to Europe and America will depart from here, eliminating the need to travel to Hong Kong,” said Coutinho.
Macau airport currently has regular passenger flights operated by 27 airlines to 41 destinations in mainland China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea.
On the other hand, Coutinho criticised the local government’s decision to restrict the financial aid given annually to people with resident status to those who have lived in the region for at least 183 days in 2024.
The measure provides for exceptions, including for those living in the nine cities of mainland China included in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area project and for those studying at universities abroad.
However, Coutinho noted that the exceptions still leave some injustices, particularly cases of pensioners living in Portugal.
He gave the example of a former Portuguese soldier, “almost 90 years old”, who worked for 40 years as a police officer in Macau, but, because he went to live with his daughter in Portugal after being widowed, the financial assistance does not apply to him.
“Do you think this is fair?” Coutinho asked journalists.
The New Hope political programme also advocates “further implementation” of Macau’s role as a platform for cooperation with Portuguese-language countries, “with greater participation by the population and businesspeople”.
The Legislative Assembly’s Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) validated New Hope as one of eight candidates.
Four years ago, the Legislative Assembly (AL) featured 19 lists of candidates. Afterwards, authorities removed five lists and 21 candidates, 15 of whom were pro-democracy, for failing to defend the Basic Law and to demonstrate loyalty to the MSAR [Macau Special Administrative Region].
VQ/ADB // ADB.
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