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PETALING JAYA: An increase in the frequency of flights and new routes by its partner airlines in commercial and cargo operations led Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to record more than one million passenger movements in August.
The group’s executive director, Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh, said that the domestic sector remains the main driver of the country’s gradual recovery in traffic, as 90% of total passenger traffic is made up of domestic traffic movements.
“For the month of August, Malaysia’s operations recorded 1.4 million passenger movements.
“We are happy to see signs that the public is regaining confidence in the safety of air travel, as evidenced by the demand shown by the increase in flight frequencies,” he said in a statement on Friday (September 11).
According to MAHB, there was a substantial increase in airline flight frequencies at all Malaysian airports, with KL International Airport (KLIA) seeing a 33% increase.
“KUL (KLIA) currently records 149 flight frequencies per week. This was primarily due to the recently launched Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) with Singapore which saw the three local airlines, as well as foreign airlines Scoot Airlines and Jetstar Asia, resume. operations for these routes, “Shukrie said.
Meanwhile, other international airports such as Penang, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, showed a combined increase of 75%.
“Domestic air travelers also took advantage of Awal Muharram’s school holidays, National Day, and long weekends to visit local tourist destinations,” MAHB said.
It also announced that Etihad Airways last month became the first airline to resume daily flights based on its pre-Covid-19 schedule.
“Etihad Airways is among KUL’s 29 airlines, operating global flight routes to 30 cities in 20 countries to meet the demand for transit and repatriation flights,” he said.
Apart from that, My Jet Xpress Airlines introduced two new routes out of its base of operations, KUL to Kota Kinabalu (BKI) and Kuching (KCH), respectively.
My Jet Xpress Airlines, which was once known as Neptune Air when it was first established in 1970, currently operated passenger and cargo charter flights, MAHB said.
Meanwhile, MAHB’s Turkish operations at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport continue to see a 50% increase in both passenger traffic and aircraft movements, to 1.8 million and 13,472, respectively.
“Three foreign airlines recently resumed operations at the airport due to spikes in advance bookings and load factor.
Pobeda, Jazeera and Nile Air resumed daily flight frequencies, three times a week and four times a week, respectively, in August 2020.
“With the encouraging increase in the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, MAHB has now surpassed the three million mark from the previous two in the previous month for total passenger traffic movements across its entire airport network,” he said.
Shukrie said MAHB will continue its efforts to improve the passenger experience from all angles, such as safety and efficiency, to prepare its airports for the future once air travel returns to normal.
“We want to be well prepared, as we expect an increase in passenger movements when the borders are reopened.
“We remain committed and will provide our utmost support to our partner airlines and retailers to recover together from this pandemic as we increase the airport’s readiness to operate in the new normal and practice the highest safety standards,” he said.
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