Published on: Thursday, April 29, 2021
By: Bernama
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During the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2021), only 1.7 million passengers had utilised air services.
Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has revised its passenger traffic forecast this year, expecting a contraction of between 22.9 per cent and 29.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) which translates to between 18.9 million and 20.6 million passengers.
This is due to the recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia and globally, it said in a statement.
Mavcom said during the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2021), only 1.7 million passengers had utilised air services, a 91.1 per cent y-o-y decline from 19.1 million passengers in Q1 2020, which could indicate significantly lower passenger traffic numbers for the rest of the year.
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.
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THERE are currently limited flights scheduled for international destinations, and they are catering mainly to foreigners who have finished their periods of service and are returning home.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian government has started an amnesty programme for foreigners with expired documents, expired visas and other offences. Many foreigners have chosen to register for the amnesty programme, under which they will be required to pay a compound to the Immigration Department along with producing a valid flight ticket reservation valid for a period of 14 days from the payment date.
Many have purchased their AirAsia flight tickets, especially to Indonesia. The airline, in its corporate website, advertises advance sales of tickets. When an airline cancels a flight at the very last minute the standard practice is to provide passengers with the option of credit shelf or free change of date within the timeframe stipulated by the airline.
Mavcom reports 100% ATR approvals for Q1 19 Apr 2021 / 21:20 H.
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has reported a 100% Air Traffic Rights (ATR) approval from 24 applications for the first quarter of 2021.
According to its quarterly report, 21 of the rights allocation were for international routes, while the remaining three were for domestic routes.
Compared to the previous quarter which saw 43 ATR, Q1’21 saw a 51.7% drop in application. However, set against Q1’20’s 18 application, the quarter saw a 33% increase year-on-year.
Of the 24 approvals, MyJet Xpress Airlines Sdn Bhd received the highest number of approvals, totalling 12 ATRs, followed by Malaysia Airlines Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd and Raya Airways Sdn Bhd with six, four and two approvals, respectively.
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