PETALING JAYA: At least 62% foreign airlines have resumed operations at all Malaysia’s international airports, leading to the highest passenger volume recorded in the year so far, says Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).
In a statement on Thursday (Sept 15), MAHB noted that an increase in flight routes resulted in a 7.1% increase in registered international passenger movements to 1.7 million in August compared to the previous month of 1.6 million.
In addition to the influx of new flights, MAHB touted the relaxation of visa requirements by Saudi Arabia leading to more umrah flights, and easing of travel entry requirements for foreign travellers into Malaysia as reasons for the increase in international air travel.
“All five of Malaysia’s international airports – KL International Airport (KUL), Langkawi International Airport (LGK), Penang International Airport (PEN), Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI) and Kuching International Airport (KCH) have seen an increase in the number of new flights routes to foreign destinations offered by airlines last month.
“Among the airlines included Batik Air Malaysia which started their Phuket from KUL route with seven flights weekly.
“Malaysia Airlines Bhd also commenced two new direct services – KUL to Haneda with two flights weekly and BKI to Singapore with three flights weekly.
“Firefly also resumed their Phuket service from PEN with four flights weekly among others,” said the company.
Meanwhile, domestic passenger movements remained consistent at 3.1 million, which is 65.7% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
In August, MAHB recorded the highest passenger volume for the year thus far at 7.9 million with 4.8 million passenger movements at its network of airports and 3.1 million passengers at its Turkiye airport, the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport.