KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) passenger movements for its network of airports stood at 8.2 million passengers in September 2022, equivalent to 71 per cent of 2019 September levels.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, MAHB said it continued to show signs of recovery after surpassing eight million passengers for the first time since March 2020.

MAHB said Malaysia recorded 5.3 million passengers in September 2022 with the domestic sector continuing to lead traffic recovery with 3.4 million passengers while the international sector recorded a new high of 1.9 million passengers.

It said aircraft movements showed increased movements to medium and long-haul flights to Perth, Sydney and Auckland, Southeast Asia and South Asia destinations, as travel restrictions eased and additional flight frequencies were granted.

Additionally, various route introductions by Batik Air Malaysia also contributed to the international recovery.

"In September, the airline commenced daily flights on the Melaka-Pekanbaru route, and twice weekly flights to Amritsar from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA),” it added.

Meanwhile, it said Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport recorded 1.5 million and 1.4 million international and domestic passengers, respectively.

MAHB said on a quarterly basis, the third quarter of 2022 (Q3 2022) registered the highest number of quarterly passengers since Q2 2020 at 24 million passengers or 71 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

"The marked improvement in passenger movements was attributed to the regional easing of travel protocols, the granting of additional flight frequencies at major airports to airlines as well as the reopening of borders of more countries.

"On the supply side, airlines continue to reactivate more aircraft and overcome labour shortages to match increasing demand in the Q3 2022 period,” it said. — Bernama