KUALA LUMPUR: The Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISG) is ranked as the fifth busiest airport in Europe in October by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol).
ISG, which has a daily average of almost 500 flights, is Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) fully own asset in Turkey.
MAHB said the company's sustainability was supported by the encouraging recovery seen at ISG in the last several months.
ISG had contributed more than 50 per cent to the group's total passenger traffic since July this year, MAHB said in a statement today.
Chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said MAHB was heartened to see better recovery at the airport.
"In October 2020, ISG contributed 60 per cent to the group's total passenger traffic of 2.6 million. This had allowed the group to reach 22 per cent of our pre-Covid-19 numbers year-on-year (YoY)," he said in the statement.
Mohd Shukrie said the recovery at IS was mainly driven by domestic travel in Turkey.
For October, domestic passenger traffic stood at 80 per cent YoY of pre-Covid-19 numbers, while international was at 40 per cent YoY.
"The latest foreign carrier to resume operations at SAW was Salam Air from Muscat with a frequency of twice weekly," he said.
Meanwhile, for Malaysia's operations, MAHB said domestic passenger traffic continued to be affected by the re-imposition of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in Sabah, Selangor and the Federal Territories.
MAHB said 35 airlines were now operating from Malaysia to 31 destinations in 23 countries, providing vital connectivity for the nation.
The latest foreign carrier to resume operations in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was Nepal Airlines from Kathmandu on October 26, with a flight frequency of four times weekly.
MAHB said KLIA was expected to see improved airline connectivity with the increase in freighter frequency and capacity.
This will be underpinned by the commencement of operations of the e-fulfillment hub at Cainiao Aeropolis eWTP Hub in Sepang, Selangor early this month.
MAHB said airline partners would also be able to leverage on belly space utilisation which in turn, helps with the profitability of their network and route planning.