KUALA LUMPUR – The government is targeting to increase the number of air passengers by 80.6 per cent or 87.8 million this year, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said.

He said the number of passengers is expected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels next year, with the overall recovery of the total number of flight passengers between January and September at a rate of 77.5 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2019.

“The best recovery is for domestic passengers to be at a rate of 84.4 per cent, followed by ASEAN passengers at 77 per cent and 63.4 per cent for passengers to other international destinations,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said this in reply to  a question from Oscar Ling Chai Yew (PH-Sibu) who wanted to know if the number of flights and passenger operations at airports in Malaysia have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels.

Loke also informed that as of September this year, airports in the country had handled a total of 62.8 million passengers.

The total number of passengers handled by airports in Malaysia in 2019 was 109,428,322 and the number dropped by 50.1 per cent or 54.8 million passengers in 2022, he said.

With regard to on-time performance, he said Malaysian airlines recorded an achievement of 79 per cent for the third quarter of 2023, compared to 82 per cent in the second quarter of this year.

Elaborating on the on-time performance of individual airlines, he said SKS Airways recorded 95 per cent, MASwings 93 per cent, Batik Air Malaysia 82 per cent, FireFly 77 per cent, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia each recorded 74 per cent.

“In addition, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) is also in the process of determining performance standards for on-time performance and flight cancellation rates for Malaysian airlines.

“This process is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024,” he said in reply to Ling who raised on the on-time performance achievement of domestic flights from 2022 to this year and the measures taken against airlines that fail to abide by the schedules. 

Loke added that there were several beyond control factors that contribute to flight delays, including issues related to bad weather and air traffic management.

“It’s not that airlines deliberately delay their flights, but I agree that there are several areas that need to be improved not only by the airlines but also at the airports and the airlines have no control over air traffic management,” he said.

He added that the government through Mavcom would take stern action against any airline that fails to comply with the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code. – BERNAMA / pic TMR FILE