MAHB first-quarter traffic the highest since 2020
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd ’s (MAHB) first-quarter traffic was the highest since 2020 across the 39 airports it manages locally.

In the January-to-March 2024 period, MAHB recorded 21.8 million passengers in Malaysia, which is about 86% of the traffic seen in the first quarter of 2019 (1Q19).

Out of the 21.8 million passengers, about 54% or 11.7 million were international passengers, while the rest were domestic travellers. The international passenger segment saw an 89.4% recovery rate over 1Q19, while the domestic segment reached 82.2% of 1Q19 levels.

“There were 1,386 additional weekly frequencies in 1Q24 compared to 1Q23, mainly driven by new airline operations,” the airport operator said.

MAHB said it achieved a more than 90% recovery rate against 1Q19 with 31.4 million passenger movements in 1Q24.

The group noted that for the first time, international passenger movements had surpassed 1Q19 by 5%, registering 16.9 million for 1Q24.

On the other hand, domestic passenger movements posted 14.5 million with an 82.9% recovery rate over 2019 levels.

“This is an indication that airlines are expanding more to the international sector compared to domestic,” the group said.

MAHB stated Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SGIA) passenger movements fully recovered in 1Q24 and recorded growth of 17% over 1Q19 at 9.5 million passengers.

“SGIA 1Q24 passenger movements have reached normalisation and continue to grow, recording more than three million passengers each month.

“It is also noteworthy that the 1Q24 total passenger movements for SGIA has exceeded 1Q19 by 17.3%, mainly contributed by airlines’ continuous expansion to the international sector and surpassing the 2019 level by 73.8%,” the group said.

For March, Malaysia recorded positive traffic development, underpinned mainly by new airline operations, school holiday breaks and Chinese New Year festive seasons. International and domestic passenger movements recorded 3.8 million and 3.2 million passengers, reaching 85.8% and 72.8% respectively over March 2019.
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Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) first-quarter traffic was the highest since 2020 across the 39 airports it manages locally.