The airlines have resumed operations at all five international airports in the country, according to Malaysia Airports Group, the operator of the country’s airports.

The five are the KL International Airport (KLIA), Penang International Airport (PIA), Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI), Langkawi International Airport (KGK) and Kuching International Airport (KCH).

In a media statement issued today, the airport operator said several airlines had also introduced new international destinations or added more flights in the routes they currently serve.

Batik Air Malaysia (OD) began flying the Kuala Lumpur-Phuket route seven times a week from last month while Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) has begun direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Haneda, Japan twice a week and from Kota Kinabalu to Singapore three times a week.

Firefly has reinstated its four weekly flights from Penang to Phuket.

The airport operator said the higher flight frequency had helped to increase passenger traffic by 7.1% or 1.7 million from July to August.

Apart from an increase in the number of flights to Malaysia, other factors have also helped to drive more visitors to the country.

These include the easing of travel restrictions for foreign travellers to Malaysia and the relaxation of visa requirements for travellers to Saudi Arabia for umrah.

During the summer holiday period, passenger arrivals rose 4.9% to 1.5 million.

The number of people who took domestic flights also rose to 3.1 million in August, a 65.7% increase from 2019 before the start of the pandemic.

On its overseas operations, Malaysia Airports Group said the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, recorded passenger traffic at 1.6 million, up 79.1% from pre-pandemic levels.

It said the surge in passenger traffic had contributed to the group’s recovery. The total passenger traffic for the group since the start of the year has reached 7.9 million, of whom 4.8 million are Malaysians.