Airport passenger traffic recovers to 96 per cent in February

Malaysian airport passenger traffic in February has reached new post-pandemic heights as it recorded 7.8 million passengers during the month, achieving a 96 per cent recovery against 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

In a sector update, the research arm of MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) noted that this was a significant jump from the 83 per cent recovery recorded in Jan and opined that it was fuelled by a combination of factors.

These factors included the 1month year-end school holidays, the Chinese New Year festivities, the Routes Asia event in Langkawi, and further progress in the reciprocal 30-day visa-free program With China and India.

The culmination of factors caused international passenger traffic to see a recovery of 97 per cent while domestic passenger traffic saw its highest recovery rate yet since the pandemic outbreak at a 95 per cent recovery rate.

The domestic sector also saw an average load factor of 83 per cent, suggesting that domestic traffic is progressing towards normalisation.

Meanwhile, passenger traffic from mainland China and India in February saw recoveries of 86 per cent and 90 per cent respectively compared to 2019 levels.

“It is worth highlighting that the daily average of international passenger movements surpassed Feb-19 levels on seven separate occasions, ranging from 1 per cent to 10 per cent,” the research arm said.

Overall, MIDF Research noted that current load factors are comparable to or higher than prepandemic levels which suggested that airlines could accommodate even more passengers by increasing their capacity.

“Therefore, the pace of recovery depends on how quickly seat capacity can rebound, considering the constraints posed by limited aircraft availability,” they explained.

To recap, budget carrier Capital A Bhd (AirAsia) is currently aiming to achieve 90 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity levels by the end of 2024 while Malaysia airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is aiming to welcome 17 new carriers into its airports in 2024.

For 2024, the research arm is forecasting passenger traffic to fully recover in all sectors and potentially grow further by an estimated 2 per cent from 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

They also expect passenger traffic to exceed 2019 level in 2025 with a forecasted recovery rate of 106 per cent.

Overall, MIDF Research noted that current load factors are comparable to or higher than pre-pandemic levels which suggested that airlines could accommodate even more passengers by increasing their capacity.