Malaysia Airports (MAHB) says air travel in Malaysia is showing further signs of recovery, as the country’s gradual easing of lockdown measures and travel restrictions, which were implemented in May, enters its second month.
Based on statistics from the 39 Malaysian airports managed by MAHB for the first nine days of July, the number of passengers doubled to a daily average of 37,000 while aircraft movements grew to 550. This is higher than the daily average of 18,650 passengers and 290 movements during the last nine days of June, says MAHB.
However, it notes that these numbers are primarily domestic traffic movements, as Malaysia has not fully reopened its borders for international travel.
Cirium schedules data show that in the month of July 2020, Malaysian carriers AirAsia, Firefly, MASwings, Malaysia Airlines, and Malindo Air are scheduled to operate more than 10,800 Malaysian domestic flights. This is an 81.6% month-on-month increase compared to June 2020, which had nearly 6,000 flights scheduled during that month.
On an individual carrier basis for July, AirAsia will operate the largest number of flights with nearly 4,500 flights. This is followed by Malaysia Airlines with more than 2,400 flights, and Firefly with more than 1,900 flights.
The data also indicate that the top five Malaysian domestic routes in terms of seat capacity all depart from Kuala Lumpur, to points such as Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Penang, Langkawi and Kota Bharu.
“We are hoping to see larger increases in traffic numbers as we go forward especially with [Islamic holiday Eid ul Adha] approaching at the end of the month. Malaysians who did not get the opportunity to spend [the earlier Eid ul Fitr holiday] with their families will surely take the opportunity to travel back to their hometown and enjoy the festivities with their loved ones,” says MAHB group chief executive Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh.
MAHB adds that its fully-owned Turkish airport, Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen International, had resumed international operations after Turkey reopened its borders on 12 June.Turkish operators such as AnadoluJet and Pegasus Airlines have begun flying internationally out of the airport.
Malaysia Airports operates 39 domestic and international airports in Malaysia, including Kuala Lumpur International airport, as well as Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen International airport.
