Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has announced a 40 percent increase in international traffic across its local airport network for the first half of 2024 (1H 2024), driven by the introduction of six new airlines.

In a statement released today, MAHB identified the new airlines as Cambodia Airways, Flydubai, Iraqi Airways, Juneyao Airlines, Thai Lion Air, and Turkmenistan Airlines. These additions have significantly contributed to a total of 45 million passenger movements in 1H 2024, achieving 87.9 percent of the passenger traffic seen in the same period of 2019, before the pandemic.

The statement highlighted that the overall recovery in seat capacity reached 85 percent in 1H 2024, with 57 million seats available compared to 67.3 million in 1H 2019. Additionally, the average load factor for this period was 78.8 percent, surpassing the level recorded in 1H 2019 by 3.4 percentage points.

"This sustained growth throughout 1H 2024 indicates robust demand, potentially prompting further expansions in seat capacity offerings," MAHB noted.

The performance of Malaysia Airports Group's local airports showed notable resilience, with a 15.5 percent increase in total passenger movements compared to 1H 2023, reaching 45 million. This figure also represents 87.9 percent of the passenger levels from 1H 2019.

In parallel, the addition of Air Arabia and AJet at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkey led to a surpassing of pre-pandemic passenger numbers, recording 20 million passengers in 1H 2024. This marks a 16.4 percent increase over 1H 2023 and an 18.1 percent rise over 1H 2019.

Overall, the group saw 65 million passenger movements in 1H 2024, reflecting a 15.8 percent growth from 1H 2023 and reaching 95.4 percent of the levels recorded in 2019.

The strong traffic performance in 1H 2024 was largely driven by international passenger movements, supported by rising air travel demand, visa exemptions for travelers from China and India, and an expanded network of airline routes.

"Total international passenger movements for the group saw 34.1 million passengers in 1H 2024, up from 26.5 million in 1H 2023, and a 5.3 percent increase over 2019 levels," the statement added. Domestic passenger movements also showed positive results, with a 4.1 percent growth over 1H 2023, totaling 30.9 million passengers and reaching 86.5 percent of 2019 levels.

MAHB remains optimistic about sustaining this growth trajectory and is committed to enhancing passenger experiences, expanding route networks, and improving operational efficiencies to support ongoing, sustainable growth.