MAHB: April 2016 Passenger Movements Up 4.1 Pct To 9.3 Mln

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 (Bernama) -- Passenger movements at airports under Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), including Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA), grew 4.1 per cent year-on-year to 9.3 million in April 2016. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia (Malaysia's Stock Exchange), MAHB said international traffic jumped 3.1 per cent to 4.1 million passengers while domestic traffic increased 4.8 per cent to 5.2 million passengers. "For airports in Malaysia, 7.0 million passengers were registered in April 2016, an increase of 2.2 per cent over April 2015 with the international sector up 4.4 per cent and the domestic sector up 0.1 per cent. "Istanbul SGIA passenger movements increased by 10.0 per cent in April 2016 over the same period last year, while the international sector declined 2.5 per cent and the domestic sector increased by 16.8 per cent," it added. Despite the reduced aircraft movements, airports in Malaysia managed to record a positive 2.2 per cent growth, made possible by a five per cent increase in average load factor from 68 per cent in April 2015. International passenger traffic grew by 4.4 per cent, contributed by significant improvements in the North East Asia and Middle East sectors as well as secondary airports. "Qatar Airways, China Airlines, Iraqi Airways, Xiamen Airlines, Turkish Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Mahan Air and Oman Air are some of the airlines which grew above 30 per cent over April 2015," it said. Furthermore, MAHB said airports such as Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi and Ipoh recorded very high year-on-year increases of over 15 per cent, with Ipoh airport posting over 100 per cent. "Year-to-date Kota Kinabalu international passengers continued with double-digit growth of 26.3 per cent," it added. -- BERNAMA