With the lifting of travel restrictions, passenger load on most airlines has recovered to near pre-pandemic levels.
Low-cost carriers flying domestic and regional routes have been leading the recovery, according to experts.
For instance, 70 out of every 100 aircraft in the AirAsia fleet are already back in service, compared with only 30 during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Batik Air Malaysia, formerly known as Malindo Air, has been adding new routes to its portfolio.
Data from the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) shows that air passenger traffic grew 123.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first quarter of this year (Q1 2023).
“This translates to 19.4 million passengers,” a Mavcom spokesman told FMT Business.
This is equivalent to 73% of the overall passenger load achieved in Q1 2019, the year before Covid-19 reduced air travel to a minimum.
The improvement in international passenger traffic to Malaysia is even more remarkable. On a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis, it has grown an average of 80.9%.
Maybank Investment Bank analyst Samuel Yin noted that many aircraft were left idle during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“At this time last year, only 30 out of every 100 aircraft in AirAsia’s fleet were flying,” he told FMT Business.
However, he said, 70% of the airline’s fleet are flying now.
Yin also noted that Batik Air had recently added 17 Boeing 737-8 aircraft to its fleet, and that has led to a surge in passenger traffic.
“These planes not only fly locally but regionally as well. They are the main factors that have contributed to the aviation sector’s rebound,” he said.
Batik Air now has 300 flights daily to 44 destinations domestically and regionally.
On the ground, there are other factors at play, too. For instance, the high Covid-19 vaccination rate and the decline in the value of the ringgit against the US dollar also contributed to a resurgence in air travel.
To date, an estimated 27.53 million Malaysians, or 84.3% of the population, have had their additional doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid attributed the surge in tourist arrivals to the depreciation of the ringgit.
The value of the ringgit has declined to about RM4.50 in the past few weeks from about RM4.20 before the onset of Covid-19.
The US monetary policy is likely to continue to have an impact on the ringgit in the foreseeable future.
After a pause last month, the US Federal Reserve raised its interest rate by another 25 basis points (bps) to the 5.25% to 5.5% range last week, leading to a higher demand for the greenback.
Afzanizam said the prospects for tourism-related industries, including aviation, remains promising given that most economies have reopened their international borders.
The data is indisputable. The number of international air traffic rights (ATR) approved by Mavcom rose 246.1% y-o-y in Q1 2023.
This demonstrates a steady revival in the international market, a segment that Malaysian airlines will be looking to exploit.