Macau ferry fares rising for first time in five years

Turbojet and Cotai Water Jet, offering ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau, will raise fares for the first time in five years from Friday.

People taking Turbojet's daytime ferry between Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan and Macau on weekends and holidays will pay HK$190 a trip for economy class from Friday, an increase of HK$15 from HK$175 currently. For super class, it will increase to HK$395 from HK$360.

For day sailing on weekdays, the new price of economy class is HK$175, and super class HK$365, HK$15 and HK$30 more expensive than the current prices respectively, while the night-time ferry will cost HK$20 more to HK$220, for weekdays, weekends and holidays. It will also increase the fares between Hong Kong International Airport and Macau.

The new prices for economy class will be HK$297 for adults, HK$226 for children and HK$165 for children under two years old, also a 10 percent increase from the existing prices.

Turbojet said it has received approval from the Macau government to raise fares by up to 10 percent, the first fare adjustment since 2017.

But Turbojet will offer a 10 percent discount to passengers booking e-boarding return tickets on its website from Friday to December 15.

Another ferry operator Cotai Water Jet which also provides services between Sheung Wan and Macau, its Cotai Class fare will go up HK$15 to HK$175 for weekdays sailing, and to HK$190 for weekends and holidays journeys from Friday. For night sailing, the fare will be raised from HK$200 to HK$220 from Friday.

Its Cotai First class tickets will be increased to HK$310 on weekdays, HK$329 on weekends and holidays, and HK$360 for night sailing, a 10 percent increase from the current fares.

For the Cotai VIP Cabin which has eight seats, passengers will have to pay HK$2,480 for weekdays, HK$2,632 for weekends and HK$2,880 for night sailing, also a 10 percent increase.

"Isn't that a stupid measure trying to coerce us to use the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge? But that won't change me and I will still take the ferry to travel between Hong Kong and Macau because the bridge port is too far away and inconvenient," a frequent traveler between the two SARs Mr. Un said.

"Yes it's quite an unreasonable fare increase, especially given the current depressing economy. But I have no choice," he added.

Ferry used to be the only transportation for passengers to travel between Hong Kong and Macau. However, after the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opened in 2018, commuters can also opt to pay HK$65 for the "Golden Bus" to shuttle between the two SARs.