KUALA LUMPUR: It was a remarkable year for Malaysia’s aviation sector, with air travel booming as airlines successfully met rising passenger demand, fuelling a robust recovery across the industry.
This was despite the CrowdStrike global information technology outage and national carrier Malaysia Airlines temporarily reducing flight frequencies due to the delayed delivery of its Boeing aircraft.
Air travel was also rattled by the deadly turbulence that hit Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 over Thailand en route to Singapore from London, which tragically killed a British passenger.
This sparked widespread inquiries about whether there are ways to prevent such frightening flight disturbances.
Back home, AirAsia X
hogged the limelight by introducing flight to new destinations including Almaty, Kazakhstan, in March and Nairobi, Kenya, last month, while its parent company Capital A Bhd submitted proposals to exit its PN17 status.
The saga of the financially beleaguered and suspended MYAirline, which is trying to revive operations, continues as a potential Middle-Eastern investor backed out.
As for air travel to and from Malaysia, this sector was buoyant, with passenger traffic for the first 10 months of the year reaching a whopping 80.3 million.
According to the Malaysian Aviation Commission, this puts Malaysia on track to meet its forecast of 95.4 million to 97.6 million passengers by year-end.
The outlook for Malaysia’s aviation industry remains positive in 2025, with robust growth expected to continue as airlines expand routes, domestically and internationally, tapping into emerging markets and enhancing regional connectivity.
GIP controversy
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) became the talk of the town following the selection of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in the airport operator’s privatisation.
The controversy arose because GIP is owned by Blackrock, reportedly the world’s biggest asset manager with significant investments directly in Israel.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim quelled criticisms of the deal, saying foreign parties were only acquiring the existing 27% public shareholding and that MAHB would still be owned by local interests with its chairman and chief executive officer being Malaysians.
Expanding routes, fleet and MRO
AirAsia has expanded its domestic connectivity, adding 2,000 weekly flights and 150,000 seats across 40 key routes by end-2024. It has also introduced 39 new routes across Asean and Central Asia.
Low-cost airlines, Thai VietJet and China’s 9 Air, are expected to start operations in Kuala Lumpur by the year-end.
KLIA now serves over 70 airlines, surpassing pre-pandemic levels of 69 airlines.
Malaysia Airlines announced plans to introduce direct flights to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris starting March 22, 2025.
In terms of fleet expansion, AirAsia restructured its order for 362 Airbus A321neo aircraft by converting 36 jets to the long-range A321XLR and A321LR models, with deliveries starting in 2025.
Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the parent of Malaysia Airlines, took delivery of its first A330neo aircraft on Nov 29.
More planes in the sky also provided a fillip to the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry.
A major beneficiary is Asia Digital Engineering Sdn Bhd, which launched its 14-line hangar on Sept 26, the largest hangar in the country. This was complemented by the resumption of narrow-body aircraft operations by six airlines at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, which halted jet operations in 2002.
Sustainable aviation initiatives
The government launched the Malaysia Aviation Decarbonisation Blueprint on Sept 5, aimed at accelerating the aviation sector’s commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
MAG signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus on Feb 19 to collaborate on comprehensive studies to reduce carbon emissions. The international airports in Kota Kinabalu and Langkawi achieved Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 1 Mapping in November, joining KLIA and over 600 airports globally in the journey toward net-zero emissions.
Key events next year include the resumption of the automated people mover system at KLIA in January, the progress of MAHB’s privatisation, Capital A’s PN17 exit plan and the arrival of new airlines, including British Airways, to KLIA. — Bernama
