Malaysia's air passenger traffic expected to reach 49 million by year-end

Malaysia is expected to register air passenger traffic of between 32.6 million and 49 million by the end of the year following positive growth in the first five months, says Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong.

He said statistics from the Malaysian Aviation Commission showed that the country's total air passenger traffic had increased by 574.6% in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2021, reaching approximately 16.3 million passengers.

Speaking at the launch of the state safety programme in Sepang yesterday, Wee said a total of 288,076 flight movements had been recorded in the first six months of this year.

Air cargo traffic meanwhile is expected to grow between 3.9% and 6.7% compared to 2021, that is between 21.5 billion to 22 billion freight tonne kilometres.

Citing data from the International Air Transport Association, Wee said the number of air passengers would recover by 2024 at the earliest, depending on the situation in the region.

He said the transport ministry was also optimistic of developing the aviation sector to revive the country's tourism industry.

"Efficient, punctual, safe and reliable air transport will be the main economic and social driving factor in Malaysia," he said.