TRANSPORT Minister Anthony Loke said the government was targeting an 80.6% rise in the number of air passengers to 87.8 million this year.

He said the number of passengers was expected to return to pre-Covid-19 levels next year, with the overall recovery between January and September at a rate of 77.5% compared with the corresponding period in 2019.

“The best recovery is for the number of domestic passengers is 84.4%, followed by Asean passengers at 77% and passengers to other international destinations at 63.4%,” he said during Ministers’ Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to Oscar Ling Chai Yew (Sibu-PH) who asked if the number of flights and passengers at Malaysian airports have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Loke said as of September, airports in the country handled 62.8 million passengers.

The number of passengers handled by airports in Malaysia in 2019 was 109.4 million, dropping by 50.1% (54.8 million passengers) in 2022, he said.

He said Malaysian carriers logged an on-time performance achievement of 79% in the third quarter of 2023, down from 82% in the second quarter.

He said SKS Airways recorded the highest on-time performance for domestic flights at 95%, followed by MASwings (93%), Batik Air (82%), FireFly (77%), and Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia (74%).

Loke said several factors for flight delays were beyond airlines’ control, including bad weather and air traffic management.

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

He said the government through the Malaysian Aviation Commission would act sternly against any airline that fails to comply with the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016. – Bernama, November 16, 2023.