Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) total passenger traffic numbers in the country jumped more than three-fold to 1.3 million in July 2020 from 429 passengers in the preceding month, while aircraft movements doubled to 22,600 from 11,850 aircraft movements in May. 

 

This was mainly due to domestic travel by locals following the reopening of domestic tourism, MAHB said in a statement. 

 

“The positive recovery rate has reinforced our optimism that the air travel industry will gradually return to normalcy,” its CEO Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said. 

 

He added that on top of the current airlines currently operating from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, over 30 other foreign airlines have indicated they will resume operations once borders fully reopen. 

 

MAHB’s Turkish operations at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport also registered increasing numbers with passenger traffic and aircraft movements doubling to 1.2 million and 9,300 respectively in July. 

 

Four foreign airlines from Morocco, Doha, Russia and Kuwait had recently resumed operations at the Turkish airport, resulting in total passenger traffic movements at MAHB’s entire network surpassing the two million mark for the first time since the imposition of travel restrictions.