Mavcom says country recorded 8.8 mln air passengers in July, up 14 pct year-on-year

KUCHING (Aug 26): Malaysia recorded 8.8 million air passengers last month, marking a strong 14.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase from July last year with 7.7 million passengers, said the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).

Mavcom said the latest air passenger traffic also saw a 7.7 per cent month-on-month (MoM) rise compared to June this year with 8.1 million passengers.

“This growth was primarily attributed to increased international travel, supported by the continued restoration of international routes, the implementation of 30-day visa exemptions for tourists from China and India, and the launch of new international destinations last month including Sihanouk in Cambodia as well as Qingdao and Yantai in China.

“Overall, this brought last month’s traffic to 91.7 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in July 2019, when traffic was at 9.6 million, with international traffic leading the recovery,” Mavcom said in a statement today.

Domestic air passenger traffic last month, which accounted for 48.4 per cent of the total, stood at 4.3 million passengers.

Mavcom said this represented 88 per cent of the traffic in July 2019 at 4.8 million.

“Domestic traffic saw a 4.3 per cent MoM increase from June this year and a 3.5 per cent YoY increase compared to July last year.”

International air passenger traffic contributed 51.6 per cent of the total, with 4.5 million passengers last month.

The commission said this reflected a strong 11.1 per cent MoM increase and a 26.6 per cent YoY increase, reaching 95.4 per cent of the level in July 2019, indicating a nearly full recovery.

Mavcom said all international airports in Malaysia posted double-digit YoY growth in international passenger numbers.

Topping the table was Senai International Airport that saw a 37.5 per cent increase followed by Kuala Lumpur International Airport (28 per cent), Penang International Airport (22.3 per cent), Kota Kinabalu International Airport (22.8 per cent), Kuching International Airport (15.5 per cent) and Langkawi International Airport (12.1 per cent).

In terms of traffic distribution, Mavcom said Asean and non-Asean routes both contributed equally to the growth in international traffic.

Asean traffic reached 2.3 million passengers, a 4.5 per cent MoM increase and a 16.3 per cent YoY increase, while non-Asean traffic saw stronger gains, with 2.3 million passengers, marking an 18.5 per cent MoM increase and a 39 per cent YoY increase.

“For the first seven months of this year, the cumulative air passenger traffic reached 55.4 million passengers, in line with Mavcom’s forecast of 93.9 to 107.1 million passengers for the entire year.

“International traffic continues to be a key driver, constituting 51.4 per cent of the total year-to-date passenger traffic, while domestic traffic accounted for 48.6 per cent,” added the commission.