KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): More international airlines have resumed their operations at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) following effective Covid-19 safety measures, said Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).

In a statement today, MAHB said in early October 2020, three more international airlines resumed operations at KLIA with British Airways offering four flights a week from KLIA to the UK and beyond, Oman Air offering two weekly flights to Muscat, and Ethiopian Airlines offering a weekly flight to Addis Ababa.

MAHB said airports in the country continued to see gradual monthly increases in both passenger and traffic movements.

It said in September 2020, passenger traffic movements rose by 19% from August to 1.7 million, while aircraft movements increased by 9.8% to 27,010.

“Meanwhile, our operations at the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISG) continued to see close to two million passengers last month with five international airlines operating at ISG to date.

“This led to the group registering a total of 3.5 million passenger traffic movements in September 2020,” it said.

Meanwhile, the airport operator said Pos Asia Cargo Express also recently introduced a new route from KLIA to the Sibu Airport that operates six times a week using a B737-400F aircraft.

MAHB said throughout the year, air cargo operations in Malaysia remained relatively stable.

It said despite a significant drop in passenger aircraft movements, cargo movements had shown resilience.

“Data for January to August 2020 showed that cargo operations in Malaysia averaged about 65,000 metric tonnes a month, compared with about 76,000 metric tonnes a month in 2019,” it said.

MAHB group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said KLIA had maintained the same number of freighter airlines operating from the airport since 2019.

“There are 21 freighter airlines at KUL (KLIA) (including charters).

“Although there was an initial dip in air cargo tonnage in March and April due to a reduction in belly cargo capacity, this capacity crunch was immediately taken up by full freighter airlines. This proves that KUL remains an attractive regional hub for aviation.

“With the upcoming operationalisation of the e-fulfillment hub in KLIA Aeropolis — a joint venture between MAHB and Alibaba Group’s logistics unit Cainiao — it will further cement KUL's position as a regional distribution hub,” he said.