Fuel prices push Air Macau to cliff edge
Air Macau Company, the city's largest carrier, is on the verge of bankruptcy, a result of soaring fuel prices, according to agency reports.
It is the biggest financial crisis the carrier has faced in its 14 years of operation.
Shareholders in Air Macau include Air China, who holds a 51 percent stake, the investment fund of Portuguese airline TAP with a 20 percent, and Stanley Ho Hung-sun's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) which owns 14 percent. The balance comes from Evergreen Airways Service (Macau), the Macau government, and several others investors.
The investors will meet later in the month to decide the fate of the carrier, which could involve either winding up the airline or injecting fresh capital.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has also pledged its support for the airline.
Air China may buy out shareholders who are reluctant to commit further funds to the ailing carrier.
The airline lost around US$12.4m in the past two months, and the same around during first quarter 2008.
Earlier in the year, fuel prices forced Oasis Hong Kong Airlines into liquidation after only three years after it was founded.