MAHB Targets 2.5 Pct Passenger Traffic Growth This Year

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) expects the 2016 passenger traffic for Malaysian airports to grow by 2.5 per cent to 86 million movements from 2015. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia (Malaysia's Stock Exchange) Tuesday, MAHB said, there has been significant improvement in the average load factor by 6.5 per cent in the last two months of 2015 and this trend was expected to continue to a certain extent into 2016. "Aircraft movements are expected to grow in tandem with passenger growth at 2.4 per cent in 2016," it said. MAHB said Malaysian Institute of Economic Research surveys had indicated weakening consumer confidence and spending. It said the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had predicted travel business to remain strong in 2016, especially for North America and Europe. "IATA said the cargo performance was expected to remain weak this year," it said. Meanwhile, MAHB said, its Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkey was expected to grow by over 20 per cent in 2016 with 34.3 million passengers. In total, MAHB said, its system of airports was expected to handle over 120 million passenger movements this year, at over seven per cent growth above 2015. -- BERNAMA