KUALA LUMPUR (June 9): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) handled 7.92 million passengers across its 39 local airports in May, up 8.5% from 7.3 million passengers in the same month last year.

Its Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA) in Istanbul, Turkey, meanwhile, saw a marginal 0.3% increase in passenger count to 2.69 million, from 2.68 million a year ago.

MAHB’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA and KLIA2) saw 12.1% rise in passenger count to 4.79 million, mainly driven by the 15.8% uptick in international flyers.

“Eighteen airlines registered double-digit growth for international passenger traffic. They include AirAsia X, All Nippon Airways, Malindo Air, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and Malaysia Airlines Bhd, among others,” said MAHB in a filing with Bursa.

This, in turn, was mainly driven by non-Asean traffic. Across all its airports, non-Asean and Asean traffic registered growth of 23.7% and 7.3% respectively in the period.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic passengers increased 3.5% year-on-year. “The modest growth in domestic passenger movements was mainly contributed by Malindo Air offsetting the reduction posted by Firefly and Malaysia Airlines,” said MAHB.

In total, MAHB oversaw 10.61 million flyers in May, up 6.3% from 9.98 million in May 2016. Year-to-date, passenger traffic rose 9% to 51.49 million, from 47.22 million in the same period last year.

From the total, MAHB said passengers who flew local flights across all its airports numbered at 5.77 million, up 1.5% from 5.68 million last year. Meanwhile, the number of passengers who flew to or from overseas rose 12.6% to 4.84 million, from 4.3 million previously.

“Passenger traffic growth was registered at 11 of 21 international and domestic airports in Malaysia with four airports posting double-digit growth,” said MAHB.

From a regional perspective, MAHB posted positive growth in all regions where it operates, save for Africa and Middle East.

Shares of MAHB closed three sen or 0.32% higher at RM9.28 today, with over 2.56 million shares traded. The stock’s current market value is RM15.28 billion.