Malaysia’s aviation sector is close to a full recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, with passenger traffic reaching 9.3 million in July, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) said.
CAAM said the figure stood at 96.8% of July 2019’s pre-pandemic level of 9.6 million passengers, highlighting a promising recovery trend in both domestic and international air travel.
The sector reported a total of 61.2 million passengers from January to July, moving steadily towards the forecast of 105.8 to 112.9 million passengers for the entire year.
CAAM said passenger traffic grew 10.5% in the second quarter of the year to 26.5 million or 99.3% of 2019 levels. Domestic travel led with a 14.7% increase to 13.7 million passengers, while international volumes rose 6.5% to 12.9 million.
CAAM said this growth was supported by increased seat capacity, visa exemptions for Chinese and Indian tourists, and new routes including Kota Kinabalu–Daegu, Subang–Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur–Palembang.
CAAM CEO Norazman Mahmud said the sector was on course for a full recovery in 2025, driven by rising demand, stronger connectivity, government incentives and regulatory reforms.
“This positive trajectory is further reinforced by the recent rationalisation of the Malaysian Aviation Commission’s (Mavcom) economic functions under CAAM, creating a more unified and robust civil aviation regulatory framework for the nation,” he said in a statement.
“Together, these developments underscore our commitment to sustaining growth and resilience in Malaysia’s aviation sector while upholding global best practices, regulatory excellence, and fostering innovation through strategic collaboration.”
Airports nationwide recorded positive annual growth, led by Senai (+9.7%), Kota Kinabalu (+7.2%), Langkawi (+6.6%), Penang (+4.0%) and Kuching (+0.2%).
Cargo movements rose 11.4% month-on-month in July to 93 million kg, though still 2.8% lower year-on-year after the easing of earlier tariff-driven frontloading.
