Malaysia’s passenger traffic to decline 77-80% in 2021: MAVCOM

Malaysia’s air passenger traffic is expected to contract by 77-80% year-on-year, versus 23-29% predicted in April, before the country entered a three-month-long nationwide lockdown in June. This translates to 5.3-6.1m passengers this year, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) says in the latest edition of an industry outlook report published on 26 August, versus 19-21 million passengers in the previous forecast. The latest forecast takes into consideration “a lower load factor and a longer period of seat capacity recovery by airlines”. MAVCOM also details two alternative projections, with 6.9-7.8m passengers in the best-case scenario and 4.2-4.8m passengers in the worst-case scenario. The commission anticipates an increase in domestic, short-haul travel, as movement restrictions are relaxed for fully vaccinated people. Air cargo traffic is also expected grow 27-28% in 2021 and recover to pre-crisis levels. MAVCOM executive chairman Saripuddin Kasim states: “The aviation industry continues to be the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. While future trends indicate potential increase in domestic travel as the nation moves closer to reaching herd immunity and travel restrictions are relaxed for fully vaccinated passengers, the recovery rate of the sector remains uncertain.”<br/>