Malaysia: Air travel remains on recovery path

Air travel for business and leisure will continue to recover in 2024, with tourists from China being the key driver, says Kenanga Research. According to the research firm, its in-house projection showed that tourist arrivals in Malaysia are expected to jump 35% to 27m in 2024, which is a return to pre-Covid levels. This is a rise by more than one-third from the estimated 20m in tourist arrivals in 2023. “A key driver is Chinese tourists, who have historically contributed to an estimated 12% of total tourist arrivals in Malaysia. “Furthermore, tourist arrivals are expected to be boosted by the 30-day visa-free regime for Chinese and Indian visitors to Malaysia starting from December 2023, while China is allowing Malaysian inbound visitors 15 visa-free days between Dec 1, 2023 and Nov 30, 2024,” it said in a report. This should underpin growth in Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) passenger throughput and Capital A Bhd’s passenger demand in 2024, it added. Kenanga Research projects MAHB’s system-wide passenger throughput to rise by 7% to 131m in 2024.<br/>