KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Malaysia Airports’ fully owned asset in Turkey, the Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (ISG), recorded total passenger traffic movements at 53 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels and an average load factor of 70 per cent in the first half of 2021 (1H21).
Malaysia Airports group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said that ISG is a significant contributor to the group’s recovery as traffic recovery in Turkey is more robust compared to its Malaysia operations.
“For ISG, passenger movements rose by 17.6 per cent in 1H21 over 1H20, whereas it had contracted by 84.6 per cent for our Malaysia operations over the same period.
“Nevertheless, both countries are achieving commendable vaccination rates,” he said in a statement today.
Mohd Shukrie added that with more than 50 per cent of the adult population in Malaysia fully vaccinated, passenger traffic is expected to improve as interstate border restrictions may be further relaxed by year-end.
“We can expect domestic traffic to gain traction once 70 to 80 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated.
“This is in tandem with economic activities, the re-opening of local tourist spots, and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism,” he added.
Malaysia Airports recently announced its financial results for 1H21 that ended on June 30, 2021, with the group reporting RM660.3 million in revenue.
Malaysia operations registered revenue of RM331.9 million, a contraction of 64 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Nonetheless, the impact was cushioned by revenue from its Turkey operations which rose 14.6 per cent to RM328.5 million.
The ISG was also ranked as the fourth busiest in Europe in 1H21 by the Airports Council International (ACI), a global trade representative of the world’s airport authorities. — Bernama
