By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 (Bernama) – As the year draws to a close in what was surely an eventful period for the aviation sector, news that the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will resume on Dec 30 will hog the limelight in 2026.
The new endeavour to find the Boeing 777 aircraft, which carried 227 passengers and 12 crew members could perhaps solve the biggest aviation mystery when the plane disappeared on March 8, 2014 on a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
This aside, a multitude of events marked Malaysia’s aviation sector this year, including runaway passenger demand, fleet expansions by both major airlines, Malaysian Aviation Group and AirAsia and the addition of numerous new routes, especially from Chinese airlines to Kuala Lumpur.
For instance, Malaysia Airlines once again started flying to Paris in March and to Brisbane last November, British Airways again flew from London to KL International Airport (KLIA) after a five-year break while AirAsia started mounting flights to Istanbul and numerous Chinese airlines started flights to Malaysia.
These positives aside, the aviation sector was confronted by challenges in the form of rerouting due to conflicts and bombings leading to the closure of international airspace, the threat of software attacks and the breakdowns of the aerotrain at the main terminal of KLIA.
As if this was not enough, a massive leakage where water poured into the departure area of Terminal 1 (T1) after a heavy shower again drew the ire of the public whose criticism over the aerotrain disruption had just subsided.
Nevertheless, on the bright side, this year unfolded as one of the busiest years in recent memory for Malaysia’s aviation sector that demands resilience, agility and no small amount of ingenuity from airlines, regulators and airport operator to maintain the industry’s growth.
Despite disruptions, from Pakistani and Middle East airspace closures to intermittent interruptions in Europe, Malaysia’s aviation network pushed forward with renewed momentum.
Major reforms, including privatisation and regulatory consolidation, strengthened oversight, while airport upgrades, expanding international routes and a steady rebound in long-haul travel kept traffic growing throughout the year.
New entrants, fresh investments and fleet expansions further boosted domestic and regional connectivity as Malaysia prepares for Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VM2026).
MAHB transformation and airport upgrades
One of 2025’s landmark events was the much-heralded privatisation of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), ushering in a new chapter focused on performance and long-term transformation.
The airport operator was delisted from Bursa Malaysia on Feb 25 after 25 years as a public-listed entity. It was first listed on Nov 30, 1999 at RM2.50 per share.
The Gateway Development Alliance consortium’s takeover of MAHB, which was initially met with controversy since it had links to an Israeli company, was complete after the delisting.
Infrastructure reliability was a key focus during the year, particularly at KLIA after the aerotrain resumed operations on July 1 after a RM456 million upgrade, achieving an operational availability of 98.41 per cent and serving over seven million passengers so far.
However, three disruptions to aerotrain services between July and October prompted MAHB to activate a comprehensive action plan to strengthen system resilience ahead of VM2026, but further disruptions compounded the problem, with many hurling criticisms at its poor maintenance.
KLIA also saw broader service enhancements.
About RM30 million was invested in upgrading KLIA T1, while the Vehicle Access Management System was enforced from Dec 1 after a trial reduced kerbside non-compliance from 50 per cent to 21 per cent.
Passenger experience improvements continued through the upgraded Airport FastTrack service.
Beyond KLIA, Ipoh’s Sultan Azlan Shah Airport completed its optimisation project in April, boosting annual capacity to 700,000 passengers with a refreshed terminal layout.
While all these took place, challenges still emerged with a water leakage incident at KLIA T1 in November drawing public scrutiny.
As if this was not enough, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed that hackers demanded a US$10 million ransom following a sophisticated cyberattack which disrupted MAHB’s digital systems.
The government refused to concede to ransom demands and committed to strengthening national cyber defences.
Regulatory overhaul and international achievements
A major structural shift took place on Aug 1 with the merger of the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) into the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), forming a single regulator overseeing technical, safety and economic functions.
About 93 per cent of MAVCOM’s workforce were absorbed into CAAM.
Malaysia also strengthened its international standing.
Malaysia was re-elected to the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council (Part III) for the 2025-2028 term.
A feather in the cap for Malaysia was that KLIA was ranked among the world’s top 10 airports in the 2024 ASQ (Airport Service Quality) survey for terminals managing over 40 million passengers, scoring 4.99 out of five.
As a reflection of the country’s strong international standing, the Malaysian passport has been ranked as the third most powerful passport in the world in the 2025 Passport Index, offering visa-free access to 174 countries.
An added bonus was that American aircraft manufacturer Boeing further expanded its regional presence with a new Kuala Lumpur office, which opened in July to support safety, supply chain and sustainability efforts.
New flights strengthen Malaysia’s global air links
As travel demand surged post-pandemic, Malaysia welcomed several new carriers and reinstated major routes.
A host of Chinese airlines increased their routes to Malaysia.
Chinese low-cost carrier Jiangxi Air launched its first Southeast Asian service between Nanchang and Kuala Lumpur, while Chinese full-service airline Juneyao Air began four weekly flights from Shanghai and China Southern Airlines introduced its Urumqi-Kuala Lumpur connection via Guangzhou.
China Eastern Airlines also commenced daily Xi’an-Kuala Lumpur flights via Kunming.
A significant event came in April when British Airways resumed its London-Kuala Lumpur service after a five-year pause.
MAHB said efforts continue to attract more European carriers, including Finnair, Iberia and non-Oneworld carriers from Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy.
Penang International Airport strengthened its regional links with Cambodia Airways launching the first direct Phnom Penh-Penang flight in June.
Airline expansion and fleet modernisation
Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) advanced its long-haul and regional recovery with multiple developments.
Malaysia Airlines expanded its fleet commitments, exercising rights for 20 additional A330neo aircraft (bringing the total to 40) and ordering 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft supported by CFM International’s supply of 60 LEAP-1B engines.
MAG received seven A330neo and eight Boeing 737-8 aircraft this year.
It reported a net profit of RM54 million for 2024, supported by a resilient EBITDA of RM788 million.
Leadership transition also took place, with Captain Nasaruddin A. Bakar appointed as president and group chief executive officer (CEO) of MAG, succeeding Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, who retires in January 2026.
The Sarawak government completed its takeover of MASwings and rebranded it as AirBorneo.
MAHB former chief aviation and strategy officer Megat Ardian Wira Mohd Aminuddin will serve as CEO of AirBorneo from Jan 1, 2026 as the airline prepares to operate rural air services independently across Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.
Capital A also made waves, signing a US$12.25 billion agreement for 50 Airbus A321XLR aircraft while moving into the final stage of its PN17 exit with plans to transfer its airline business to AirAsia X (AAX) by year-end.
Upon the exit, Capital A’s five companies are ADE (engineering), Teleport (logistics), AirAsia MOVE (travel platform), Santan (F&B business), and its brand licensing and intellectual property (IP) business, Abc, which would be renamed to AirAsia NEXT.
Its ecosystem companies saw major milestones, including ADE securing long-term engineering deals with Air France and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance.
Newcomer Ascend Airways Malaysia, a sister company of UK-based Ascend Airways, began operations in mid-November and will launch its first Boeing 737-800SF flights in early 2026.
Across the wider network, Malaysia Airlines, which launched new Paris and Brisbane routes this year, will also begin Chengdu services in January 2026.
Firefly added Krabi, Siem Reap and Cebu; AirAsia launched nine new routes, including Darwin, Taipei, Pontianak and Kunming; AirAsia X opened Karachi, Tashkent and Istanbul; while Batik Air introduced over 20 routes overall.
In cargo, MJets Air marked a milestone with its first direct KL–Sandakan freighter service on Oct 23.
Challenges and global events
Operational turbulence remained inevitable.
A major power outage at London Heathrow disrupted four Malaysia Airlines flights in March.
The Pakistani airspace closure during its three-day conflict with India in May forced Malaysia Airlines to reroute London and Paris flights via Doha, while Batik Air cancelled services to Lahore and Amritsar.
Globally, the aviation community was shaken by the Air India flight AI171 crash in June, which claimed 242 lives while the airspace over the Middle East was closed following the bombing of Iran by the United States.
Outlook
The Asia-Pacific region remains the world’s fastest-growing aviation market, and Malaysia is positioned to capture the next wave of demand, said International Air Transport Association (IATA) vice-president for Asia Pacific, Sheldon Hee.
With RM50 million in matching grants under Budget 2026 to stimulate charter and international flight growth, Malaysia is targeting 35.6 million tourist arrivals for VM2026.
New bilateral air service agreements signed during Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar’s visits to Ethiopia and Kenya will further strengthen connectivity, while engagements such as his meeting with Brazil’s Embraer at the BRICS Summit underscore Malaysia’s commitment to aviation growth.
Against a backdrop of the events, Malaysia’s aviation sector, which faces ongoing challenges, is nevertheless set for exciting times in the year ahead.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
