Airport CEO
A leading corporate leader with strong financial background and extensive experience in various fields, he is currently steering Malaysia Airports to greater heights.
This month, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin rejoices as the airport operator emerged a Gold winner in the Air Transport World (ATW) Ad Awards 2019 which depicted Malaysia’s iconic Petronas Twin Towers in the background of the capital city’s stunning skyline, reflecting the nation’s progressive growth, including its aviation industry. Malaysia’s re-election to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council from 2019-22 for the fifth term and its rise in ranking was another joyful occasion.
Kudos to our airline marketing team for creating the advertisement where Malaysia Airports is the Gold winner in the Airports and Economic Development category during the ATW Ad Awards 2019, judged by over 500 airlines and decision-makers worldwide.
Our advertisement portrays the iconic Petronas Twin Towers standing tall against our Kuala Lumpur City Centre’s skyline besides our key messages. Indeed, it was a proud moment for us when we received this award from Aviation Week Network Managing Director (Americas), Beth Wagner.
I am also happy that Malaysia has successfully retained its position in the ICAO Council under category III, representing Asia-Pacific for another three years. Garnering the highest number of votes since it became a council member in 2007, Malaysia received 143 votes, that is 81% of the total votes cast and rose in her rankings from 13th to 11th position.
Witnessing these achievements during the recent ICAO General Assembly in Montreal, Canada, we are elated to be working with them and other stakeholders in supporting a safe, efficient, economically- sustainable and environmentally-responsible civil aviation industry.
At the recent New Straits Times Insight talk on ‘Malaysia As a Preferred Aviation Hub — Are We There Yet?’, I emphasised on the importance of interlining between the KLIA main terminal and klia2. Plans to go for full interlining in the years to come are underway as we are now piloting a project with Pos Aviation on baggage handling at the airside area.
We remain bullish in our outlook for the local aviation sector with our statistics for the first nine months of 2019 showing 5.9% growth in passenger traffic to 77.96 million compared to the previous corresponding period.
I am also pleased to know that Saudia has selected KL International Airport (KLIA) as its first station to receive the carrier’s new Boeing 787-10 from Jeddah, which received our ceremonial water salute on 15 October. With the carrier planning to add more flights in December to cater to the pilgrimage and the commencement of Qatar Airways’ flights to Langkawi via Penang (also in mid-October), this will further help boost passenger movements at our airports.
As we draw closer towards the nation’s Visit Truly Asia Malaysia 2020 campaign launch, it is heartening to know that Malaysia was the fourth most popular tourism destination worldwide for Chinese travellers during the recent October Golden Week holiday period.
Alipay, China’s largest third party mobile and online payment app, has also identified KLIA to be one the most popular spending destinations for these travellers. I would like to encourage my team to continue working harder and come up with innovative improvements that can foster closer ties with both passengers and stakeholders of our airports.