KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — The recent restoration of Malaysia’s air safety rating has played a role in enhancing the national aviation outlook, said Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).

In a statement today, MAHB said the country’s reinstatement to Category 1 of the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) and the re-election to the International Civil Aviation Authority Council (ICAO) were vital in enhancing the airport authority’s global network connectivity.

With the IASA Category 1 rating, a country’s air carriers can establish service to the United States and carry the code of US carriers.

To maintain that rating, a country must adhere to ICAO’s safety standards

MAHB managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood said industry players are working closely with the government to ensure Malaysia receives about 10 million international tourists by year-end.

“The government has implemented several initiatives to support this aim such as the DE Rantau Nomad Pass which will enhance and promote more mobility among digital professionals and their spouses into the country.

“Another initiative is the new Malaysia Premium Visa Programme aimed at attracting high net-worth individuals. Both these programmes are anticipated to boost passenger movements,” he said.

Recently, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) saw the return of Kuwait Airways (KU) after a seven-year hiatus, with the Kuwait (KWI)-KUL route flying two times weekly and will increase to three times weekly next month.

Later this month, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL) and All Nippon Airways (NH) will resume non-stop flight operations at KUL after temporarily ceasing operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

KL will be operating Amsterdam (AMS)-KUL flights four times weekly, a transition from the current AMS-Singapore-KUL sector, whereas NH will be flying three times weekly to KUL from Tokyo-Haneda (HND), its second route other than the current Tokyo-Narita (NRT)-KUL operation.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines (TK) has increased its weekly flight frequencies for its Istanbul (IST)-KUL route from seven times to 10 times.

For September 2022, Malaysia Airports registered a total of 8.2 million passenger movements for both its Malaysia and Turkiye operations, increasing by 155.8 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y).

For its Malaysia operations, the group recorded a total of 5.3 million passenger movements at its local network of airports, while Malaysia’s international passenger movements for September year-to-date was recorded at 9,271,272, a y-o-y increase of 1104.9 per cent attributed to the active service resumption by foreign carriers.

Meanwhile, passenger traffic movements at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW) represented 35.2 per cent of the total group operations or 2.9 million. — Bernama