Macau International Airport

Commercial air service began on November 9, 1995, with the first departure an Air Macau flight to Beijing; the roughly US$1 billion airport was built on land reclaimed off Taipa and Coloane islands, with its runway connected to the terminal by two causeways.

The airport was formally inaugurated on December 8, 1995, presided over by Portuguese President Mário Soares during the final years of Portuguese administration of Macau, ahead of the 1999 handover to China.

TAP Air Portugal, partnering with Sabena, began Lisbon service via Brussels using Airbus A340s in 1996, but discontinued the loss-making route by 1998.

Macau's sovereignty transferred from Portugal to China on December 20, 1999; the airport continued operations under Macau's post-handover 'one country, two systems' framework, retaining its own civil aviation authority separate from mainland China.

Annual traffic reached 5 million passengers by 2006, building steadily toward and eventually exceeding the airport's original 6-million design capacity.

Passenger traffic reached 7.17 million in 2017, surpassing the airport's original six-million-passenger design capacity.

A three-phase expansion master plan under development since 2016 began implementation in 2025, targeted for completion around 2030, aiming to raise capacity toward 10 million annual passengers.