 |
| Datuk Badlisham Ghazali |
LABUAN: Passenger traffic at Malaysia's airports rose 4.5 per cent in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2015, with Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) also contributed to the increase.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) managing director, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, said the increase surpassed the traffic volume target of 2.5 per cent, with airlines such as Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Malindo Air adding new services, coupled with the consolidation of Terminal 2 in Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu this year into a single terminal at KKIA.
The number of passengers using MAHB's second busiest airport had soared to more than six million, he said.
"For the first nine months of 2016, passenger traffic has tremendously improved...Sabah can be proud of the growth in passenger traffic passing through KKIA. We saw a very big jump in passenger traffic with impressive international arrivals into this fastest growing airport," he said after a Townhall session with Labuan Airport personnel here Monday.
"Air travel is no longer a luxury but an option and convenience for people at large. We see a slight increase in both international and domestic traffic.
"However, MAHB is still weathering the changes that are happening at MAS after its difficulties in 2015. Hopefully, this will be the end after the restructuring and route rationalisation exercise.
"MAS is trying to churn its aircraft operation from ten hours to almost 12 hours a day. This means the national carrier could use its aircraft more efficiently and there will be more frequencies, hence, more passengers to the airport. Other carriers like Malindo Air is also growing significantly," Badlisham said.
He said the continuous efforts by tourism agencies and MAHB's marketing efforts to bring back other carriers and more frequencies had attributed to the increased volume in passenger handling.
"Carriers like Turkish Airlines and Emirates Airlines have increased their frequencies and aircraft size while others have come back into Malaysia," he said.
He said the Zika virus outbreak had not given any impact to the passenger traffic across the region.
On the Labuan's tourism plan to bring in direct charter flights from China, he said Labuan Airport was capable of handling large aircraft including Airbus A330 family.
"We welcome any initiatives (charter flight). We have been in discussions with both Labuan and the Ministry of Federal Territories leaders to increase direct flights and charter flights into the island.
"The immigration personnel at Labuan Airport are ready to accept international passengers and we are also prepared to look at the operation hour for more flights at the airport.
"I was informed there was an announcement by the Labuan Member of Parliament that a carrier was given an air operator certificate to operate charter flight from China to Labuan," he said.
"But, we may look at a slightly smaller aircraft for a start. For example, we have a special charter flight from China to Malacca on a smaller A319 aircraft. As for the charter flight to Labuan, we may start with the Boeing 737," he said.
Badlisham said the Labuan Airport runway was built under Code 4E that could accommodate Airbus A330.
Earlier, he presented MAHB's financial aid to a religious school, Tahfiz Quran Al Ummi, as part of its corporate social responsibility.
Source: Bernama | 11 Oct. 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment