A press release Monday issued here by the company said Air Macao handled 2.1 million passengers and 150,000 tons of airfreight in the year.

High fuel prices in the world market lifted the costs for Air Macao yet the airline managed to achieve unprecedented passenger and airfreight handling in 2005, the release boasted.

It said the airline in 2006 is to open new flights to the mainland tourism attractions covering Hangzhou, Sanya, Guiyang and Zhangjiajie.

The airline has been playing an active role as a significant transit in the southern part of China since it launched the debut flight in the mid 1990s. Enditem