KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 19): Malaysia's air passenger traffic rose 12.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 8.7 million passengers in August this year versus 7.7 million a year earlier, thanks to a surge in international travel driven by expansion of international routes and introduction of new flights, according to the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).

However, August's figure is 1.5% lower than July's 8.8 million passengers due to lower domestic air passenger traffic. The latest monthly air passenger traffic is about 90.2% of pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels in August 2019, the aviation regulator said in a statement on Thursday.

Year to date, air passenger traffic reached 64.1 million passengers, which remains in line with Mavcom's forecast.

International passengers contributed 51.4% or 4.5 million passengers to August's air passenger traffic, while domestic passengers made up the remaining 48.6% or 4.2 million.

The significant increase in international traffic was driven by visa exemptions for tourists from China and India, coupled with new connections, Mavcom said. This raised international air passengers up 1.7% month-on-month (m-o-m) and 24.7% y-o-y, reaching 96.1% of August 2019’s levels.

“Notable new routes launched in August include flights from Kuala Lumpur to Ningbo [in China] and Karipur and Guwahati [in India] as well as from Kota Kinabalu to Ningbo and Bali [in Indonesia],” Mavcom said.

Of the 4.5 million international passengers, 2.3 million were from non-Asean regions, while the remaining 2.2 million were from Asean.

“The international non-Asean region experienced the highest growth compared to other regions, with an increase of 34.6% y-o-y,” it said.

Meanwhile, domestic air passenger traffic fell 1.3% m-o-m, but rose 2.2% y-o-y, reaching 84.7% of August 2019, when traffic was at five million.

Mavcom said the country's major airports saw positive growth in air passenger traffic compared to August 2023.

KL International Airport led with an increase of 20.1% y-o-y, followed by the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (up 9%), Langkawi International Airport (up 8.3%), Senai International Airport (up 4.4%) and Penang International Airport (up 1.9%).

Mavcom executive chairman Datuk Seri Saripuddin Kasim is optimistic about the country's air traffic meeting Mavcom’s full-year passenger forecast, on the back of restored international seat capacity, visa exemptions for key markets and introduction of new routes.

“The August 2024 traffic figures reflect the resilience and continued momentum within Malaysia’s aviation sector, particularly in international travel. Despite a modest monthly decline, the strong year-on-year growth underlines the sector's robust recovery," Saripuddin said.

"Mavcom remains committed to ensuring the sustainable growth of the sector while empowering industry players to maintain high service standards as we safeguard consumer rights," he added.