KUALA LUMPUR (July 15): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) passenger traffic in June plunged by a staggering 92.1% year-on-year (y-o-y), its third consecutive month of experiencing such a massive drop.
The number of passenger traffic passing through MAHB's airports plummeted 98.8% in April and dropped 97.8% in May.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the airport operator said it recorded a combined 954,000 passengers in Malaysia and at its Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SGIA) in Turkey in June. That figure was down 92.1% when compared with the 12.14 million recorded for June 2019.
Of the total passengers, international and domestic passenger movements during the month stood at 110,000 and 844,000 respectively, said MAHB.
On a last-12-month basis, MAHB's passenger traffic at its network of airports contracted 26.6% y-o-y with close to 100 million passenger movements, compared with 136.25 million previously.
The June 2020 figure, however, was a significant 300% improvement over the May 2020 headcount of 237,000.
"June traffic movements indicated signal of revival in air travel for both Malaysia and Istanbul SGIA market following the relaxation of travel restrictions announced earlier in the month," MAHB said.
It added that the day-to-day increase in passenger movements was driven by airlines' resumption of domestic flights in Malaysia, which corresponded with the relaxation of interstate travel ban from June 10.
While in Turkey, it said the domestic flights resumed operations after intercity travelling was allowed from June 1 and the international passenger movements were recorded on June 11, after a NOTAM (notice to airmen) lifted Turkey's airspace effective on the same date.
"Domestic average load factor in Malaysia recorded an increase of 20 percentage points towards the last nine days of June, registering 65.7% average load factor compared with the first nine days before interstate travel ban was lifted in June. Istanbul SGIA's daily domestic passenger movements gradually increased in June, with total domestic passengers reaching 24.3% of June 2019 movements with an average load factor at 67.7%," MAHB further said.
In terms of aircraft traffic, Malaysia recorded an 84.2% y-o-y decline to 11,850 planes from 74,840 planes. This is represented by 3,019 planes or 25.5% in KLIA, and 8,831 or 74.5% at the Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd airports.
In Istanbul's SGIA, plane count plummeted 79.1% y-o-y to 4,237, from 20,251.
Moving forward, while Malaysia and Istanbul SGIA June traffic performances are encouraging, MAHB said post-lockdown demand for air travel is expected to be in stages with domestic sector leading the recovery.
For the resumption of international traffic, MAHB said it is expected to be gradual, mostly due to dependence on travel bubble arrangements and a slower easing of border restrictions as countries remain cautious.
Shares in MAHB closed 15 sen or 2.94% lower today at RM4.95, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM8.21 billion.
The stock has recovered some 22% from its recent low of RM4.07 on March 19, a day after the government imposed the movement control order to curb the spread of the virus. However, the stock is still down 35% year to date.