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Malaysia's aviation commission cuts traffic forecasts
August 27th 2021
The Malaysia Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) has lowered its passenger forecasts for calendar 2021 for the second time this year amid a "lower load factor and a longer period of seat capacity recovery by airlines". Read More » Its revised prediction is that Malaysia's passenger traffic will contract between 77% and 80.2% in 2021, from 26.7 million passengers in 2020. The forecast represented a significant deterioration from MAVCOM's April outlook, which was for a decline in the 22.9% to 29.1% range.
It also was a turnaround from MAVCOM's December 2020 outlook when it said passenger traffic in 2021 would almost double over 2020 levels from an expected lifting of international travel restrictions. "While future trends indicate a potential increase in domestic travel as the nation moves closer to herd immunity and travel restrictions are relaxed for fully vaccinated passengers, the recovery rate of the sector remains uncertain," MAVCOM executive chairman, Datuk Seri Hj.Saripuddin Hj. Kasim, said. "It is crucial for all stakeholders to be prepared for a new market that will be dominated by price-sensitive leisure travellers. In light of this, the commission expects cost containment and reductions to become top priorities for airlines as well as airport operators." Malaysia has been recording about 20,000 new COVID-19 infections a day for most of August. About 40% of its 33 million population has been fully vaccinated against the virus.
