Airports in Asia should prepare for additional capacity, says GMR Airports advisor

SEPANG, Nov 3 — Airports in Asia need to be prepared to handle the growing passenger traffic volume and capacity needed over the next few years, said airport operator GMR Airports Group.

Its advisor Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, who was former Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) managing director, said the airports will need additional capacity, especially when the passenger growth from China improves, by leveraging the increase in utilisation, technology and digitalisation in services provided.

“Increasing capacity at the airport is expensive and needs funding while the returns do not come up immediately.

“The question is are airports able to accommodate growth within the existing capacity of the airport, terminal and runway capacity?” he said at the “Asia Airports — altering the business mindset to meet changing airline and passenger demands” session held at the Centre for Aviation (Capa) Asia Aviation Summit and Sustainability Awards 2023 here today.

In terms of slot utilisation, Bashir said most airports in the region have two or three peak times with less than 80 per cent utilisation.

“Therefore, increasing the capacity of the airport is possible through the increase of slot utilisation throughout the day besides digitalisation and technology usage.

“Airports have to be ready to see capacity growing beyond 2019 in the next few years,” he said, stressing the importance for airports to find solutions to ease the growing traffic congestion.

MAHB senior general manager of strategy Megat Ardian Wira Mohd Aminuddin said the capacity issue has been a challenge as the number of passengers was growing post-pandemic.

“Although the aircraft fleet is not yet at 100 per cent utilisation, we foresee most of the aircraft coming off from maintenance in quarters three and four of 2024 onwards,” he said.

Megat also said that during the pandemic, MAHB launched digitalisation initiatives but, eventually, there needs to be brick-and-mortar expansion.

“An airport requires comprehensive planning to balance between meeting the passengers’ demand and the airport’s demand in order to stay agile for the next few years,” he said. — Bernama