KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — Malaysia’s passenger traffic across all local network of airports operated by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) gained momentum in 2022, registering a substantial increase to 52.7 million passenger movements compared with 10.72 million passenger movements in 2021.

"Domestic passenger movements recovery momentum continued in 2022 after the lifting of interstate travel ban on Oct 11 last year, recording 36.2 million passengers for the year, reaching 69.6 per cent of 2019 levels.

"International passenger movements recorded a total of 16.5 million passengers after 17 airlines resumed services to 32 cities, with the highest traffic to destinations in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, and India,” said MAHB in a statement today.

The airport operator said the annual growth in passenger movements was also supported by the introduction of new routes by 27 airlines to 38 cities.

Among the cities with the highest growth in 2022 over 2021 were Denpasar-Bali, Lahore, Ujung Padang, Male, Brisbane, Bangkok, Perth, Phuket, Batam, and Bangalore.

Overall, 59 airlines operated flights to 84 international and 35 domestic destinations last year, as compared to 48 airlines to 51 international and 32 domestic destinations in the preceding year, it said.

On a monthly basis, MAHB said the highest monthly passenger movements for 2022 were recorded in December totalling 6.8 million passengers, with the year-end holiday season contributing to the significant 31 per cent increase from the preceding month, and enabled the group to reach 50 per cent of 2019 levels for Malaysia operations.

"From the 6.8 million, 2.9 million were international passengers, the highest recorded to-date since the border reopening in April; and 3.9 million were domestic passengers, a 33 per cent increase from November 2022,” it said.

Among the five international airports, Langkawi International Airport and Kota Kinabalu International Airport recorded the highest passenger increase at 51 per cent and 39 per cent respectively.

Malaysia’s passenger traffic growth was in tandem with the 10 per cent rise in total aircraft movements in December at 56,645 when compared to November.

On its asset in Turkey, MAHB said Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA) recorded 2.7 million passengers in December, contributing to a total of 31.2 million passengers for 2022, which reached 86.7 per cent of 2019 annual levels.

It said total international passenger movements in 2022 surpassed 2019 annual levels with 10.4 per cent growth over 2019, while domestic passenger movements recorded 15.5 million passengers, reaching 71.2 per cent of 2019 annual levels.

Istanbul SGIA international aircraft movements recorded a growth of 48.1 per cent over 2021, while domestic aircraft movements recorded a slight decrease as airlines restructured their network expansions to the international sector, it added. — Bernama