KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) network of airports, including Istanbul Sabiha Gokchen (ISG) International Airport, posted a 5.6 per cent increase to 11.7 million passengers growth for April 2019 year-on-year (YoY).
In a statement released to Bursa Malaysia today, MAHB’s international traffic grew 6.5 per cent to 5.6 million passengers YoY, while domestic traffic increased 4.7 per cent, recording 6.1 million passengers over the same period a year ago.
MAHB's network of airports registered 3.5 per cent growth with 135.0 million passengers, the highest traffic handled in the last 10 months.
Overall aircraft movements increased 2.2 per cent with international and domestic aircraft movements registering an increase of 3.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively over April 2018.
Meanwhile, airports in Malaysia recorded a 6.6 per cent increased to 8.8 million passengers in April YoY, with international sector recorded 4.4 million passengers, a 2.5 per cent increase while domestic sector grew 11.2 per cent with 4.3 million passengers.
The 51:49 ratio of international to domestic passengers also bodes well for MAHB due to the higher passenger service charge for international passengers compared to domestic passengers.
MAHB targets to bring in 10 new airlines to Malaysia, especially to its five main airports. This will maintain the stronger mix of international passengers, which bodes well for MAHB in terms of the higher passenger service charges collected; RM35 for ASEAN and RM73 for beyond Asean.
International passenger movements for Asean and non-Asean countries grew 4.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively, recording 2.2 million passenger movements for each sector.
Overall aircraft movements increased 2.7 per cent with international and domestic aircraft movements grew 0.2 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively over April 2018.
Average load factor overall registered at 76.3 per cent in April 2019, an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared with April 2018.