KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 15) : Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) recorded total passenger movements jump 130% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 7.95 million in August from 3.46 million — the highest passenger volume recorded in 2022.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, MAHB’s network of airports recorded a 178% surge in international passenger movements to 3.3 million from RM1.19 million. This was partly driven by the summer holiday period and visa relaxation in Saudi Arabia from July 30.
Domestic passenger movements also grew 105% to 4.7 million from 2.27 million.
“Entry procedures for foreign travellers into Malaysia have also been eased, eliminating the need for Traveller’s Card, pre- departure & on-arrival test, and Home Surveillance Order requirement from [Aug 1] for fully vaccinated travellers,” it said.
Airports in Malaysia recorded 4.8 million total passenger movements with international passenger movements steadily charting continued growth at 1.7 million passengers in August.
“Batik Air Malaysia, formerly known as Malindo Air, commenced Phuket route from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), with seven flights weekly from Aug 1. Malaysia Airlines Bhd commenced two new direct services, KLIA-Haneda with two flights weekly from Aug 14 and Kota Kinabalu International Airport-Singapore with three flights weekly from Aug 28.
“Firefly resumed Phuket service from Penang International Airport on Aug 26 with four flights weekly,” said MAHB.
Domestic passenger movements remained above the three million-mark in August, recording 3.1 million passengers, or 65.7% of 2019 level, it said.
“Istanbul SGIA passenger movements continued to surpass the three million-mark, with an equal mix of 50:50 international and domestic passenger volumes. International passenger movements recorded an encouraging volume in August 2022, reaching a new high at the tail end of summer holiday with 1.5 million passengers, exceeding [the] 2019 August level by 5.7%,” MAHB added.
The airport operator added about 62%, or 55, of 89 foreign airlines operating out of the five international airports in the country that had suspended their operations due to Covid-19-related travel restrictions, have resumed operations, according to airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).
The international gateways are KLIA, Langkawi International Airport, the Penang International Airport, the Kota Kinabalu International Airport and the Kuching International Airport.
A total of 1.7 million international passengers passed through the five international airports it manages in August, a 7.1% increase compared to the preceding month.
“Other than resumption of flights and introduction of new routes, other factors that contributed to the increase were relaxation of visa requirements by Saudi Arabia, leading to more Umrah flights; and [the] easing of travel entry requirements for foreign travellers into Malaysia.
“The number of international passengers for the group’s Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISG) in Turkey also increased by 4.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 1.5 million in August,” it added.
The number of domestic passengers who passed through the 39 airports MAHB manages in the country totalled 3.1 million passengers in August — 65.7% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019. ISG, meanwhile, registered 1.6 million domestic passengers in August, which is equivalent to 79.1% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
“All these had contributed to the group’s recovery, where total passenger movements for the group stood at 7.9 million passengers (Malaysia: 4.8 million; ISG: 3.1 million) in August — the highest passenger volume recorded for the year thus far,” said MAHB.
MAHB shares closed down nine sen or 1.5% to RM5.90 on Thursday (Sept 15), giving the group a market capitalisation of RM9.79 billion.
Source: TheEdge - 16 Sep 2022
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