Noting that the aviation industry has been among the worst-hit by the pandemic, MAHB Group CEO Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said he was encouraged by news that Langkawi will be opening its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from Thursday.

“We are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, especially with the reopening of domestic tourism,” he told an online press conference today.

“With Langkawi as the pioneer destination of the domestic travel bubble, we are certainly looking forward to our airport operations to be in full swing again.”

Tourism minister Nancy Shukri said last week that Langkawi would be open to fully-vaccinated visitors from all states, including those in Phase 1 of the national recovery plan.

While visitors who travel overland must go through travel agents, there are no such restrictions for those who travel via air.

Noting that 2020 had been a “challenging year” due to travel bans and border closures, Mohd Shukrie said MAHB’s revenue dropped from RM5.2 billion in 2019 to RM1.9 billion last year. It also reported a RM1.1 billion loss in 2020 compared to a net profit of RM537 million in 2019.

He added that MAHB made the best out of a bad situation by using the travel downturn to improve its operations standards and facilities, as well as upgrade and expedite its long-term plans such as critical asset replacements and commercial reset initiatives.

Also present at today’s press conference was MAHB chairman Zambry Abd Kadir, who said he expected the aviation industry to recover from the pandemic “sometime next year” due to the loosening of travel restrictions.

He added that he was pleased with MAHB’s resilience during the pandemic, pointing to its strong liquidity, manageable borrowing levels and effective cost-containment measures.

“We look forward to the gradual recovery of the aviation industry and we are confident that all of us will emerge stronger than before,” he said.