Mavcom: M'sia's passenger traffic to drop by 38pct this year

CORONAVIRUS | Malaysia’s passenger traffic is forecast to contract by 36.2 to 38.1 per cent this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).

“This translates to between 67.7 million and 69.7 million passengers in 2020, a considerable decrease from 2019’s all-time high of 109.2 million passengers,” the commission said in the sixth edition of its industry report.

The revised forecast took into account existing flight cancellations by both Malaysian and foreign carriers totalling 14 million seats for the period between January and December this year, in addition to further seat reductions of 15 percent for domestic routes and 20 percent for international routes.

The commission highlights, however, that material developments continue to occur in Malaysia and globally during these unprecedented times, thus quickly affecting the outlook for the industry here.

Mavcom said it will continue to monitor such industry developments and make adjustments to its forecasts accordingly. - Bernama

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