KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) recorded more than six times increase in its passenger traffic for Malaysia in the first half of 2022 (1H 2022) compared with the same period in 2021.

In a statement today, MAHB said it registered a total of 20.25 million passengers through its network of airports nationwide from January to June 2022.

The active resumption of foreign carriers and international routes contributed to the encouraging performance.

Malaysia’s total passenger traffic movements in June 2022 stood at 4.54 million passengers, making up 63 per cent of the group’s total passenger movements of 7.21 million, including Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport. Malaysia recorded 1.29 million in international traffic passengers while domestic traffic stood at 3.24 million passengers.

MAHB managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood said international traffic in Malaysia is improving, and this can be seen from Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) performance last month. "KLIA’s total international traffic surpassed the one million passenger mark for the first time since the pandemic. "It recorded 1.09 million international passengers which was a 21 per cent increase from May.

"Other international airports in our local network have also recorded increased passenger volumes of between 35 per cent and 66 per cent in June compared with the preceding month.

"We are confident that this will improve further with the resumption of more airlines operating at our airports,” he said.

Iskandar Mizal noted that MAHB welcomed four foreign carriers that recommenced operations in Malaysia in June.

They included Citilink and Lion Air, flying the Medan-Kuala Namu-Penang route, and Air Busan (BX) and Jeju Air, flying the Seoul-Incheon (INC) - Kota Kinabalu (BKI) route.

The INC-BKI route is a new route for BX. Apart from the return of foreign carriers, the group also witnessed the recommencement of pre-pandemic routes.

Batik Air recommenced the Subang SZB)-Batam and KL-Denpasar routes, while Firefly reinstated its SZB-Seletar operations.

Meanwhile, Pakistan International Airlines introduced a new route connecting Lahore to KL.

MAHB’s Turkish operations remained consistent as it recorded a total of 2.68 million passenger movements, with domestic recording 1.39 million and international at 1.29 million, an increase of three per cent from May 2022. — Bernama