SEPANG: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) expects a full recovery in passenger traffic to come sooner rather than later.

       There have been strong growth numbers in international passenger traffic at its network of airports since the Malaysian borders were reopened on April 1.

       The company is also tempering the expectations a little amid the continued closure of China’s borders in line with its zero-Covid strategy.

       “The forecasts vary. Some are saying it’s 2024 especially the International Air Transport Association and other bodies.

       “However, the situation will remain fluid as we are looking instead at the passenger numbers on a monthly basis.

       “And the numbers are beginning to surprise many analysts and industry players,” MAHB managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood told a press briefing after its AGM here yesterday.

       “For China, we are planning for the worst-case scenario and are preparing that there will not be passengers from China in the near future,” he added.

       Iskandar said MAHB would mitigate the situation by having tourists arriving from other countries.

       “We will work with the airlines at other partner airports to bring in some of the passengers.

       “However, the passengers who spent a lot of money at our airports were from China,” Iskandar said.

       MAHB, which manages and operates 39 airports in the country, said international traffic in the country’s airports has increased by 53% following the reopening of the Malaysian borders.

       Amid the circumstances, MAHB said it would focus on controlling costs to remain viable and recover moving forward.

       “From our first quarter results, we are on the right trajectory.

       “We see an upward trajectory based on the recent passenger numbers. We have also brought down our core costs significantly.Right now we are almost there in terms of profitability to break even or even make a profit.

       “We are all geared up to work towards bringing the company out of the negative territory,” Iskandar added.

       MAHB’s group chief financial officer Mohamed Rastam Shahrom said core costs have been kept in check as there is a reduction in the number of employees from 11,700 to 9,700.

       “We have also reduced utility costs. Our cooling energy plant has a much lower (consumption) rate than before. This will benefit us in 24 months once we complete electrifying our cooling plant for both the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and KLIA2 under one unit to reduce electricity consumption,” Rastam pointed out.