MALAYSIA Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) today announced a 98.8% drop in overall passenger traffic in its airports in April compared to the same period last year.

Numbers dropped to 137,000 passengers last month, it said.

International traffic registered a 99.3% decline to 39,000 passengers while domestic traffic declined by 98.4% to just over 97,000 passengers.

MAHB manages 39 airports in Malaysia and one international airport in Turkey.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, MAHB said April traffic performance in Malaysian airports and in Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA) were affected by the enforcement of the MCO in Malaysia and temporary suspension of Istanbul SGIA following the Turkish government’s decision to close borders.

“The MCO enforcement in Malaysia has restricted airport and airline operations to repatriation and cargo flights.

“Local airlines have recommenced flights to key domestic routes with minimal frequencies from April 29, 2020, amid the MCO, with airlines collectively working with airports to ensure a safe environment with effective layers of measures to ensure a smooth and safe journey,” it said.

The airport operator said on a last 12-month basis, the total MAHB system recorded 121.6 million passengers, down 10% from the previous corresponding period.

Overall aircraft movements contracted by 91.6% with international and domestic aircraft movements diving by 92.9% and 90.7%, respectively, compared with April 2019.

The MCO, initially imposed for two weeks from March 18, is now expected to end on June 9 following several extensions.

Flights were initially restricted to repatriation operations.

“Nevertheless, local airlines have since recommenced flights to key domestic routes with minimal frequencies from April 29 and are ready to increase more flights with the government’s endorsement to allow more inter-state border movements with strict travelling guidelines.

“The latest announcement of a conditional MCO from May 4 allowed almost all businesses to resume with tight SOP (standard operating procedure) guidelines, hence, allowing duty-free shops at our airports to restart their business,” it said.

Moving forward, MAHB said heightening safety measures and innovative ways to resume travellers’ confidence via the technology approach would play a bigger role.

“A new norm of travelling that would see additional processes, mask enforcement and social distancing, among others, to ensure a safer travel experience is inevitable for the time being. moving forward.

“Malaysia Airports has taken advantage of the MCO to embark on upgrading its core network operating system as part of its digital transformation programme, which would also support other infrastructure enhancements and capacity developments to provide better process automation, augmented contactless self-service, robotics and biometrics technology.” – Bernama, May 12, 2020.