MALAYSIA AIRPORTS: INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC SURGES 53 PCT AFTER BORDER REOPENING

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Bernama) -- International traffic at Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (Malaysia Airports) local network of airports has increased by 53 per cent following the border reopening on April 1, 2022.

The group, which manages and operates 39 airports in the country, said it had recorded an average of 23,000 international passenger movements daily, with traffic peaking at above 30,000 during the recent long Aidilfitri festive break. 

“On the whole, the airports recorded a total of 642,128 international passenger movements, out of which Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Penang International Airport, and Langkawi International Airport showed the most significant increase -- by more than 200 per cent respectively compared to the preceding month,” Malaysia Airports said in a statement today. 

It added that a total of 2.78 million passengers were recorded for Malaysia in April, with domestic passenger movements totalling 2.13 million or 77 per cent. 

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the group said towards the end of April, international and domestic daily average passenger movements grew by 31 per cent and 87 per cent month-on-month, respectively.

Malaysia’s daily average domestic passenger movements surpassed the 100,000-mark for the first time, with more than 131,000 average daily passengers in the last four days of April, it said.

The momentum continued in the first nine days of May, during which there were 128,600 daily passengers on average.

"(For comparison,) the average daily passengers registered between January 2022 to March 2022 was approximately 81,000 passengers," Malaysia Airports said.

Meanwhile, for both Malaysian and Turkish (Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport) operations, the group recorded a total of 4.90 million passenger movements in April, a drop of 7.9 per cent compared to March. 

"The decrease in passenger movements was due to April being the holy month of Ramadan that witnessed less demand for travel both locally and globally. 

"Out of total passenger traffic movements of 4.89 million, local airports in Malaysia contributed 57 per cent, while Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkey registered a total of 2.13 million passengers, comprising 1.05 million international passengers and 1.08 million domestic passengers," it said. 

According to Malaysia Airports, five airlines resumed 17 international routes last month, including Vietjet Air, Scoot, AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, and AirAsia X. 

"We are also pleased that our Tioman STOLport (TOD) has resumed operations this month to serve SKS Airways’ Subang Airport –TOD flight route. SKS Airways is currently the only carrier with a scheduled service flying this route four times weekly.

“We will continue to work closely with our partner airlines to speed up the pace of recovery for both domestic and international sectors," said managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood.

Vietjet operates the Ho Chi Minh City – Kuala Lumpur (KUL) route with a four-time weekly service and is the fourth carrier to operate this route and Scoot resumed its daily flight service for the Kota Kinabalu – Singapore route. 

Meanwhile, the AirAsia group of carriers, including AirAsia Bhd, Thai AirAsia and AirAsia X, resumed the following routes: from Kota Kinabalu to Singapore, KUL to Hanoi, Langkawi to Singapore, Ipoh to Singapore, Hatyai to KUL, Don Mueng to Penang, KUL to Incheon, KUL to New Delhi, KUL to Ho Chi Minh City, KUL to Bengaluru, KUL to Kolkata, KUL to Kochi, KUL to Chennai, KUL to Tiruchirappall, and KUL to Siem Reap.

-- BERNAMA