MAHB hit a new milestones in 2023 as its network of airports’ total passenger movements surpassed the 100 million passenger mark for the first time since 2020. The 119.5million total passenger movements it said was partly driven by the increase in travellers’ confidence and air travel demand, approval of more slots at other international airports, reactivation of more aircraft, new aircraft delivery and the anticipated China’s reopening of borders on 8 January 2023.
The airport operator added the airports in Malaysia traffic recovery continued to record a significant increase of 55.4% over 2022 with 81.9million total passenger movements in 2023. The year recorded notable increase in the international sector with the last quarter recording trends similar to 2019 registering more than 50% of traffic market share. In addition, December international passengers recorded 4 million passengers for the first time since February. The encouraging traffic recovery was mainly driven by the reopening of China borders, increase in airlines seat capacity with the reactivation of aircraft and new deliveries. 6 new airlines and 7 airlines resumed services to 20 city pairs and 7 countries in 2023 with the highest traffic to Indonesia, China, South Korea, and the Middle East.
There were 72 airlines (excluding full freighters) operating to all airports managed by Malaysia Airports to 113 international and 34 domestic destinations compared to 66 airlines operating at all airports managed by Malaysia Airports to 86 international and 35 domestic destinations in 2022. The average load factor recorded in 2023 was 77.2%, an increase of 5.9 percentage points compared to 2022, with December 2023 having the highest average load factor for both international and domestic sectors at 80.0%.
However, the Istanbul SGIA not only exceeded 2019 total passenger movements, the 37.6million passengers for the year was also a record high, an increase of 4.5% over 2019 passengers. International passenger movements surpassed 2019 levels with a double-digit growth of 37.5% growth over 2019 registering 19.6million passengers, while the domestic passenger movements recorded 18.0million passengers, reaching 82.8% of 2019 levels. For the first time, international traffic share reached more than 50% over the airport’s total passengers.
Conclusion
The Malaysian Aviation Commission’s (MAVCOM) Waypoint Report issued in December 2023 forecasted passenger movements for 2024 to grow between 93.9million to 107.1million passengers, an increase of 10.0% to 25.0% over 2023. The latest airlines’ seat capacity filing for 2024 shows an increase of 13% over 2022, with the visa-free entry for Chinese and Indian passengers would provide the boost for traffic to recover in particular from the Northeast Asia Region.
