Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir today reiterated his objection to any potential move to privatise and carve out the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (Subang Airport) in Subang, Selangor from its network of 39 airports in the country.
Travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic have severely impacted the aviation industry. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated airline losses globally at US$118.5 billion in 2020, a year when revenue shrank by 60.8% to US$328 billion, mirroring the 60.5% reduction in passenger numbers to 1.8 billion.
Airport Council International (ACI) likewise estimated a reduction in airport revenues globally for 2020 by US$111.8 billion or a 65.0% reduction in comparison to 2019. Last year was certainly the worst year in aviation history.
Looking forward, IATA expects continued losses with forecasted 2021 airline revenues globally growing only to US$459 billion (about RM1.9 trillion), well short of the US$838 billion achieved in 2019. Global passenger levels in the meantime are expected to grow to 2.8 billion, still 1.7 billion less than that recorded in 2019.