KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) net profit surged 85.88 per cent to RM160.08 million in the second quarter (Q2) ended June 30, 2019, from RM86.12 million chalked up in the same period last year.

Revenue improved to RM1.26 billion from RM1.15 billion previously, the airport operator said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, attributing its performance to higher passenger growth.

The group’s network of airports, including the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISGIA) in Turkey, handled 67.8 million passengers in the first six months of 2019 (H1 2019) — a 4.3 per cent year-on-year growth.

"Malaysia’s traffic growth was predominantly driven by the domestic sector, partly spurred by higher demand in air travel due to the Eid Al-Fitr holidays and summer holidays, supported by the higher growth in airlines seat capacity.

"ISGIA’s traffic was driven mainly by the international sector as some of the major airlines shifted certain operations from domestic to international sector. As such, ISGIA will likely maintain its growth momentum in 2019 especially for international passenger traffic,” said MAHB.

In light of the group’s H1 2019 performance, the board declared an interim dividend of five sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2019.

In a separate statement, MAHB also highlighted its collaborations with the Malaysian Immigration Department, Lembaga Tabung Haji and the Saudi Arabian Immigration Authorities to ease the movement and immigration process for Malaysian Haj pilgrims through the utilisation of automated identification, rapid data capture and relay technologies for immigration clearance at both ends.

The initiative enabled the pilgrims to reach Makkah and Madinah, eliminating the time delays and bypassing administrational challenges faced previously.

During the 2019/1440Hijrah Hajj Pilgrimage season, the Malaysian – Saudi Arabian collaboration saw almost 30,000 passengers going to and fro Makkah and Madinah.

"With the technology introduced via the collaborative effort, pilgrim waiting time at the destinations to and fro were reduced significantly, by up to 60 per cent, whilst data transmission remained secure and seamless,” added MAHB. —  Bernama