Air passenger traffic statistics released today showed that passenger numbers were up 14.3% year-on-year and up 7.7% month-on-month.

Mavcom said the 30-day visa exemption for tourists from China and India, and the launch of new international destinations this month were the main drivers behind the increase, with international travel accounting for 51.4% of the overall passenger traffic.

It said international air passenger traffic numbers for July hit 4.5 million, reaching 95.4% of pre-pandemic levels and indicating an almost complete recovery.

Meanwhile, the 4.3 million domestic travellers represented 88% of July 2019’s pre-pandemic traffic of 4.8 million.

Mavcom said that last month, all international airports reported double digit year-on-year growth in international passenger numbers.

Passenger numbers at Senai International Airport increased 37.5%, followed by KLIA (28%), Kota Kinabalu International Airport (22.8%), Penang International Airport (22.3%), Kuching International Airport (15.5%) and Langkawi International Airport (12.1%).

For the first seven months of 2024, the cumulative air passenger traffic reached 55.4 million passengers, in line with Mavcom’s forecast of 93.9 to 107.1 million passengers for the entire year.