MAHB passenger traffic up 3.4 pct in April 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s ( MAHB) network of airports, including the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport ( SGIA) recorded 11.1 million passengers in April 2018, up 3.4 per cent, over April 2017.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, MAHB said international traffic recorded rose 6.3 per cent, yearon-year ( y- o-y) to 5.3 million passengers, while domestic traffic grew 0.9 per cent to 5.8 million passengers compared with the same period a year ago.

“On a last- twelve- month basis, the total MAHB network of airports registered 6.6 per cent growth with 130.4 million passengers, the highest traffic handled for 12 months by the network,” it said.

MAHB said overall aircraft movement increased 3.3 per cent, y- o-y, with international movements registering an increase of 8.4 per cent, y- o-y, while domestic grew 0.3 per cent over April 2017.

Meanwhile, on the local front, it said airports in Malaysia registered 8.2 million passengers in April 2018, a 0.6 per cent growth from the same period last year.

“The international sector recorded 4.3 million passengers with a five per cent increase while the domestic sector recorded 3.9 million passengers, a decline of 3.9 per cent, y- o-y,” it said.

It noted that in April 2018, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport ( KLIA)’s passenger movement improved 2.3 per cent, y- o-y, with 5.1 million passenger movements; traffic for klia2 grew 6.7 per cent, yo-y, while traffic for KLIA’s main terminal decreased 2.4 per cent, y- o-y.

“The expected high increase in election movements through air travel did not take place.

“In the 12th and 13th General Elections (GE) which took place in 2008 and 2013, respectively, there were continuous increment in traffic for several months towards election date and it continued for the following months.

“However, this was not obvious in 2018 (when the 14th GE was held on May 9, 2018),” it added. — Bernama