KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) network airports registered 7.6 per cent to 128.61 million passengers in 2017 from 119.56 million passengers in 2016.
MAHB network of airports including Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA) increased 6.5 per cent to 10.8 million passengers in January 2018 from 10.14 million passengers in January 2017.
In a statement released today, the airports operator said international sector recorded 5.3 million passengers with a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 10.8 per cent, while the domestic sector recorded 5.5 million passengers with 2.7 per cent growth.
Overall aircraft movements increased by 2.0 per cent with international aircraft movement registered 12.1 per cent growth while domestic aircraft movements declined by 3.8 per cent over January 2017.
MAHB said airports in Malaysia registered a 1.5 per cent to 8.1 million passengers in January 2018 from 7.95 million passengers in the same period a year ago.
“The positive growth of Malaysia Airports’ passenger traffic in January 2018 is encouraging despite the high base in January 2017,” it said.
MAHB said January is generally a weak month unless driven by a festivity such as Chinese New Year.
Meanwhile, international sector recorded a 9.0 per cent growth YoY with 4.4 million passengers while domestic sector recorded 3.6 million passengers, a decline of 6.4 per cent.
The airport operator said the lower domestic passenger movements in January 2018 due to the shift in the Chinese New Year festive season to February 16 and 17 this year compared with January 28 and 29 in 2017.
“In the past, a shift in the festive season had resulted in a reduction of one per cent to five per cent of the overall passengers.
“During festive seasons, passenger traffic is generally driven by the domestic sector. The strong growth in the international passengers cushioned the impact from the reduction in domestic passengers.”
MAHB said both foreign international airlines and local carriers contributed to the overall positive traffic performance.
KLIA handled 5.1 million passengers in January 2018, 4.8 per cent above January 2017 of 4.84 million. International passengers increased by 8.1 per cent while domestic traffic declined by 4.1 per cent.
Passenger traffic at KLIA Main Terminal declined by 2.7 per cent YoY with 2.3 million passengers while traffic at KLIA2 grew 12.0 per cent with 2.8 million passengers.
The last-twelve-month passenger traffic for KLIA Main Terminal recorded 28.2 million passengers which is an increase of 7.7 per cent while KLIA2 recorded 30.6 million, equivalent to 12.8 per cent increase over the corresponding period in 2017.
Overall aircraft movements at KLIA increased by 7.2 per cent YoY in January 2018. International aircraft movements registered an increase of 12.9 per cent while the domestic aircraft movements declined by 4.3 per cent.
Istanbul SGIA passenger traffic grew by 25.3 per cent YoY in January 2017 with international and domestic traffic grew by 21.7 per cent and 27.0 per cent, respectively.
“Istanbul SGIA passenger traffic growth is encouraging. The 25.3 per cent YoY growth is a reversal from 4.5 per cent decline in January 2017. The positive trend is expected to continue.”