Dato’ Iskandar Mizal Mahmood returns to Malaysia Airports after almost 20 years with his wealth of experience gleaned from many multinationals and government-linked companies to elevate and transform Malaysia Airports in the fast-changing aviation landscape with new travel norms and innovative technological advances.
This month, he rejoices as KL International Airport (KLIA) and Langkawi International Airport (LIA) stand tall among the world’s best airports in the Airports Council International’s (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey for the second quarter of 2022 (2Q22). The airport operator also celebrates KLIA as the fourth busiest airport in Asia Pacific as air travel recovery gains traction in tandem with more route resumptions, frequencies and new services by airlines.
I am so proud that KLIA and LIA have both achieved perfect scores of 5.00 in ACI’s latest survey measuring overall passenger satisfaction for terminal safety, facilities, services and cleanliness. KLIA shares that glory with seven other airports in the over 40 million passengers per annum (mppa) category while LIA is the sole airport scoring full points in the 2–5 mppa category.
KLIA was recognised for the smooth processes at its touchpoints, courteous on-ground assistance and fast check-in at the counters. The achievements by KLIA and LIA reflect not only Malaysia Airports’ continuous commitment but also that of the entire airport community in ensuring their services and operations meet the high global standards.
Since the reopening of Malaysia borders on April 1, KLIA has been performing well in terms of passenger traffic, ranking among the top 10 international airports in Asia Pacific. According to data from Singapore’s independent consulting firm Sobie Aviation, KLIA was the fourth busiest airport with 2.6 million passenger arrivals for 2022, overtaking hong Kong International Airport, Asia’s busiest airport before the pandemic.
Our latest statistics for July show the Malaysia Airports Group registering a total of 7.8 million passenger movements, of which 4.8 million were from our network of local airports and the rest from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport. Out of the 4.8 million passenger traffic, 1.6 million were international passenger traffic into Malaysia.
Having surpassed the one-million mark for the first time in June for international passenger movements since the Covid-19 pandemic, we are optimistic of our aviation industry continuing on its recovery trajectory as more international routes and frequencies are resumed and increased respectively by our airline partners such as Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Batik Air and Air Busan recently.
Our national flag carrier Malaysia Airlines has not only recommenced its thrice weekly Kuching-Singapore route using Boeing 737- 800 on July 1 but also started its maiden twice-weekly KUL-Tokyo Haneda flight operated by Airbus A330-300 on 14 August, marking its fourth route to Japan after KUL-Osaka, KUL-Tokyo Narita and Kota kinabalu (BKI)-Tokyo Narita.
Our Kota Kinabalu International Airport has also seen more flights coming into Sabah with the return of more foreign carriers with the latest twice-weekly route resumption by Air Busan from Busan to BKI on 13 July. Sabah, which has 40 weekly direct international flights coming in, enjoys the highest frequency from South Korea (17) followed by Singapore (14), Brunei (4), Thailand (3) and the Philippines (2). AirAsia also recently resumed its BKI-Bangkok Don Mueang route.
While it has been challenging for us to continuously ensure that our passengers have a pleasant and seamless experience as we welcome more traffic at our airports, we will not waver in our commitment to do so. Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone, Happy Malaysia Day, which falls on a Friday and another long weekend for many to do some short-haul travels.