Flight cancellations, airport congestion and re-timing due to bottlenecks in maintenance have hit the sector globally and at home, driving carriers like Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Jet Airways, Air New Zealand, Kuwait Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines to go on a hiring spree.

According to the International Air Transport Association, total passenger traffic in May 2022 was up 83.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) largely driven by the strong recovery in international traffic. The global traffic is now at 68.7% of pre-crisis level.

In May, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) recorded a 1,088.2% increase in passengers y-o-y to 1.98 million, comprising 898,000 international passengers and 1.08 million domestic passengers, following the reopening of borders on April 1.

There is plenty of room for airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to accommodate more passengers at KLIA given its capacity of 75 million passengers per year (6.25 million passengers monthly).

However, the ever-changing pandemic-related paperwork and last-minute documentation as required by certain countries have added to the required time for passenger clearance at airports, which subsequently affect flight times.

Director and professor of international trade and investment at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Sufian Jusoh said the level of disruptions at international airports may vary. Airports in Europe and Asia have their own set of travel requirements, documentation and restrictions.

“Prior to this, you had to be at the airport around three hours early (before flights), but now you have to be about six hours early. That is bad. The requirements at the destination country also contribute to the disruptions. So you can’t blame the disruptions on the airlines alone,” he said.

At the current rate, airlines are foreseeing a massive adjusting exercise before they can restore pre-pandemic operational efficiency.

Qantas Airways Ltd CEO Alan Joyce reportedly said it will take some time for the aviation industry to get the system up and running smoothly again.

The pandemic also affected the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry, in Malaysia and regionally, leaving limited slots for routine airplane inspection.

All aircraft must undergo strict maintenance checks, including mandatory daily safety maintenance exercises and the lack of slots has caused a knock-on effect throughout the network.

Capital A Bhd CEO Tony Fernandes recently said the downsizing of companies servicing the airlines left the MRO industry with reduced skilled manpower and longer queues to service planes, leaving them on the ground longer.

“For plane maintenance, what used to take two weeks is now taking four weeks because it hasn’t been used for two years. The demand surge in a very short period is causing a bottleneck in the supply chain,” he posted on LinkedIn.

Malaysia Aviation Group said it is working closely with various stakeholders, including MAHB and the relevant authorities, to expedite the process of rehiring.

“This is necessary to mitigate further manpower shortage as we are gradually increasing our frequency and network to achieve more than 70% of pre-Covid-19 capacity for domestic and international travel by the end of 2022,” it said in an email reply to Bernama.