Malaysia’s air passenger traffic to grow 6.7% this year

KUALA LUMPUR: Air passenger traffic in Malaysia is expected to grow 6.7% in 2011 based on encouraging numbers for the first six months. In a statement yesterday, the Transport Ministry said the increase for the first half of 2011 was 12.6% or 3.6 million passengers to 31.9 million from 28.3 million in the same period last year.

Following tourism promotion missions and enhanced air traffic facilities to Malaysia, inbound international passengers grew 13.5% to 15.0 million from 13.3 million, it said. For domestic passengers, it grew 11.8% to 16.8 million from 15 million. Overall, June registered 5.7 million passengers the highest figure in six months.

The average number of passengers for the six months of 2011 was 5.3 million per month. The growth in air traffic passengers was due to higher demand for air travel and increased flight frequency in addition to introduction of new destinations.

– Bernama