Upbeat MAHB on recovery with new flights, restart of operations

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is optimistic that passenger traffic at its airports can steadily recover as the airline commences operations and other airlines resume flights.

After a three-year hiatus last month, MAHB said KL International Airport had welcomed Cathay Pacific back.

The airline provides weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong and is looking forward to Starlux Airlines’ inaugural flight from Taipei in January.

This new flight is an addition to the Taipei-Penang itinerary that began earlier this year. The airport continues to be vigilant in introducing various safety measures to improve passenger morale, as air travel steadily returns to normal, it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, AirAsia Indonesia is looking to restart its operations from Kuala Namu this month at Penang International Airport. It will be the sixth international airline in the state to resume its operations.

MAHB also reported that by launching new routes from the state to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu from January, local community airline Firefly will begin operating in Penang as its second hub.

The steady resumption of airline operations and the launch of new routes continue to give us a positive view of the aviation sector’s recovery.

We are anticipating passenger movements to increase this month with the recently lifted interstate and inter-district travel ban and the forthcoming long holiday season.

“As we have continuously implemented various Covid-19 safety measures since the onset of the pandemic, passengers can travel confidently via our airports with peace of mind,” it said.

The new e-compliance center, Cainiao Aeropolis eWTP, started operations last month on cargo operations in Malaysia, MAHB said in time to provide smart supply chain support for the global “11.11 Singles Day” online e-commerce sales by helping promote 24-hour delivery within Malaysia and 72-hour delivery to the rest of the world.