To greater heights: Loke pointing to a graph on Malaysia’s air passenger traffic performance in 2024 during a press conference in Putrajaya. On his left is Mavcom executive chairman Datuk Seri Saripuddin Kasim. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
PUTRAJAYA: The air passenger traffic recorded by Malaysian airports this year will likely surpass pre-pandemic levels, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
At a press conference here yesterday, he said the Malaysian aviation sector recorded 97.1 million passengers last year – a 14.3% increase compared to 2023, while Malaysian airports are expected to serve more than the 109.3 million passengers recorded in 2019.
“The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) projects air traffic passengers to reach between 105.8 million and 112.9 million passengers this year.
“This represents a growth of between 8.4% to 15.6% year-on-year, while airlines are expected to increase capacity by 15.8% this year compared to last year, driven by a significant increase in domestic travel, which is forecast to grow by 21% year-on-year,” he said.
“The top three regions expected to see seat capacity growth from Malaysia are Africa, Europe, and South Asia.”
However, supply chain bottlenecks remain a challenge for the aviation industry, causing global delays in aircraft manufacturing, component shortages and logistics disruptions.
“Malaysia Airlines is proactively addressing these challenges by reevaluating cost structures, optimising maintenance schedules, renegotiating supplier contracts, and reducing overheads,” said Loke.
On the rising passenger traffic, he said this development is in line with Mavcom’s projections, which expected 95.4 million to 97.6 million passengers last year.
“This represents 89% of 2019, which saw 109.3 million passengers,” he said.
“The increase is mainly driven by Asean and international travellers, which registered a growth of 19.8% and 38.9%, respectively.
“Besides that, the domestic traveller segment achieved a growth of 2.2%.
“This growth is mainly driven by several factors, such as the increase in flight seats, visa exemption for Indian and Chinese tourists, as well as increased connectivity between China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Australia and Gulf region countries.
“Last year also saw several airlines launching new routes, such as to Kazakhstan and Kenya,” he said.
All major airports in Malaysia registered growth last year, with KLIA registering 20%, followed by Kota Kinabalu (13.1%), Penang (12.8%), Senai (11.3%), Langkawi (1.8%) and Kuching (1%).
Loke said the latest figures reflect a healthy growth and it was contributed mainly by government policies such as visa liberalisation.
“This enables more tourists from China and India, which is the biggest contributing factor,” he said.
Mavcom also expects air cargo volume this year to increase by between 4.5% and 8.5%.
