MAHB airports record 7.8% passenger traffic growth in August

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) network of airports, including Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (Istanbul SGIA), grew by 7.8% in August with 11.4 million passenger movements compared with the same month last year.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MAHB said international traffic recorded 5.5 million passengers with a year-on-year increase of 15.8%, while domestic traffic rose by 1.3% to 5.9 million passengers.

It said overall aircraft movements increased by 2.6% with international movements improved by 11%, while domestic movements decreased by 2.1% over August 2016.

“On a 12-month basis, the total MAHB network of airports registered nine per cent growth with 125.7 million passengers, the highest for traffic handled over a 12-month period by the network and the first time passenger movements breached the 125 million mark,” it said.

On the local front, airports in Malaysia registered 8.3 million passengers in August, a 9.3% year-on-year growth over last year, it said. MAHB said the growth was mainly driven by the international traffic contributed by the haj travel season, the Kuala Lumpur 2017 SEA Games, visa relaxation for India and China, competitive fares as well as favourable exchange rate for foreign tourists.

The International sector recorded 4.4 million passengers with an 17.3% increase while the domestic sector registered 3.9 million passengers, an increase of 1.7%, it said.

MAHB said international traffic for Asean destinations grew 15.2% to two million passengers. —