MAHB Eyes 115 Mln Passengers, Achieve US$1.9 Bln Revenue By 2020

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) aims to handle 115 million passengers a year and achieve a revenue of US$1.91 billion (RM7.5 billion) by 2020 in its five-year business plan, Runway to Success 2020 (RtS2020). Last year, the airport operator attracted 112 million passengers and garnered US$997.59 million (RM3.9 billion) in revenue. (US$1=RM3.90) Managing Director Badlisham Ghazali said MAHB also aimed to secure RM3 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from RM1.6 billion via RtS2020. "Our five-year plan will see MAHB strives to be a global leader in creating airport cities. "We will focus on four strategic priorities, namely elevating the KL International Airport (KLIA) as a preferred ASEAN hub, enhancing total airport experience for all its stakeholders, developing Aeropolis, and increasing international footprint," he told a press conference after announcing the company's business plan here Monday. Badlisham said RtS2020 is part of the airport operator's journey to ensure its relevancy in an increasingly competitive environment and sustainability of its business performance. The RtS2020 comprises two main thrusts -- to strengthen MAHB's core business and to expand and diversify business operations. Badlisham said the elevation of KLIA as the preferred ASEAN hub consisting two initiatives -- to improve short to medium-haul connectivity in high growth markets and to enable and encourage seamless transfers between airlines and shorter inter-terminal transit time. He said the KLIA hub is poised to deliver strong passenger traffic growth with more than 30 million additional passengers by 2020 on top of the current 49 million passengers. He said the airport operator would seek to proactively create value through smart partnership and synergistic collaboration with its business partners in order to achieve mutual benefits, especially in the development of the ultimate airport city Aeropolis. The 404-hectare KLIA Aeropolis is expected to generate about RM7 billion potential investments through three major components, namely air cargo and logistic; business and aviation parks; and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events (MICE) and leisure. Among the key projects were a theme park, hotels, KLIA Aerotech Park, Subang Aerospace, KLIA Cargo and Logistics Park and Regional Transshipment Centre. The Mitsui Outlet Park was one of the earliest development of the KLIA Aeropolis. Through the RtS, Badlisham said MAHB also strived to deliver better outcome to all stakeholders by enhancing passenger experience while increasing sales for retailers and expanding operational efficiencies. At present, MAHB manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia and one international airport in Istanbul, Turkey. The 39 airports in Malaysia comprise five international, 16 domestic and 18 short take-off and landing airports. -- BERNAMA