KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): The four Malaysia-based airlines operating out of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) failed to achieve the flight punctuality target for international flights in January this year, according to data released by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).

“In January, all the four Malaysia-based airlines performed below the target of 85% on-time performance (OTP) for the international sector,” the commission said on its website.

Nevertheless, airline punctuality improved across most Malaysia-based carriers in January this year compared to December 2024. Low-cost carrier AirAsia and its medium-haul affiliate AirAsia X Bhd (KL:AAX), as well as Batik Air Malaysia recorded improvements in their OTP in January.

AirAsia recorded an OTP of 64% in January, compared with 54% in December 2024 and 70.3% in November. AAX's OTP went up to 74.6% in January, from the previous month's OTP of 72.1% and 82.3% in November.

Batik Air also saw its international OTP improve in January. It recorded an OTP of 60.9%, up from 57.3% in December and 59% in November.

However, national carrier Malaysia Airlines saw a deterioration in punctuality, with only 69.8% of its international flights departing within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure time in January, compared with 72.5% in December 2024 and 78.2% in November.

When it came to domestic flights, Mavcom said only AAX met the target of 85% OTP in January.

AAX recorded a domestic OTP of 85.5% in January, up from 79.6% in December. However, it is worth noting that the low-cost medium-haul carrier only operated 63 domestic flights in January and 49 in December 2024.

AirAsia achieved an OTP of 69.9%, up from 63.1% in December, while Batik Air's OTP rose to 73.1% from 71% in the previous month.

Mavcom data showed that Malaysia Airlines also saw a deterioration in punctuality for its domestic flights in January, recording an OTP of 79.9%, down from 86.1% in December and 85.2% in November.

Mavcom has been providing actual data on departure flights operated by the four carriers at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 of KLIA on its website since April 15, 2024. The data come from airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd.

The commission is projecting Malaysia’s air passenger traffic for 2025 to range between 105.8 million and 112.9 million. Year to date, 17.9 million passengers have travelled through Malaysian airports.

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