MALAYSIA. Malaysia Airports served 43 million passengers across its network (including in Malaysia and at Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen International in Turkey) in 2020, down by -69.6% compared to 2019.
International passenger traffic fell by -78.0% to 14.8 million and domestic volumes declined -61.8% to 28.1 million.
Passenger numbers at Malaysia’s airports fell by -75.5% to 25.8 million. The international and domestic sectors recorded 9.5 million and 16.3 million passengers, posting declines of -82.2% and -68.7% respectively. The Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) arrangement between Malaysia and Singapore allowed essential travel between the two countries from 17 August 2020 and this route registered +20% to +35% month-on-month passenger growth between September and December.
The key location, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, saw passenger traffic slip by -78.9% to 13.2 million in the year.
While international travel remains low due to severe restrictions, there has been some recovery in the domestic market. An inter-state travel ban was lifted on 7 December, allowing domestic traffic to hit 1 million in that month. Daily passenger movements increased by +50% on 10 December and rose sharply afterwards, reaching a peak of 54,000 passengers on 27 December.
Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen International Airport (SGIA), wholly owned by Malaysia Airports, posted a fall of -52.1% in 2020 to 17.2 million passengers. Since the lifting of restrictions in Turkey in June, SGIA has posted a solid recovery. In December, domestic and international traffic was down by -45.6% and -36.8% compared to 2019 respectively. In that month, SGIA provided connections to a total of 59 domestic and 69 international destinations.
Malaysia Airports said: “Traffic recovery is expected to be gradual, in line with the distribution of vaccines coupled with the ongoing recovery of the global economy. Travel bubble arrangements and short-haul travel are expected to pave the way and give air travel further momentum in 2021.”
