KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports' Holdings Bhd (MAHB) saw 55 per cent more airlines, or 72 airlines, operating out of its network of local airports.
The jump in number of airlines led to connections to a total of 147 destinations - 113 international, and 34 domestic.
This marks a 25 per cent increase in connections compared with 121 destinations in 2022 (86 international, 35 domestic).
MAHB attributes the increase in connections is due to the launch of six new airlines, the resumption of seven others and the introduction of new routes by existing airlines.
The encouraging traffic demand continued to be evident as the group recorded 4.0 million international passengers in Malaysia in December 2023, the highest since February 2020.
"This was driven by the reopening of China borders, increase in airlines seat capacity and new aircraft deliveries," MAHB said in a statement.
In 2023, MAHB surpassed the 100 million total passenger movements mark, reaching an impressive 120 million passengers.
MAHB said despite rising air fares, inflation and severe weather changes, local airports contributed significantly, registering a record breaking 81.9 million total passenger movements, a 77.8 per cent recovery of 2019 levels.
In December 2023, airports in Malaysia experienced a further uptick in passenger traffic with a total of 7.7 million recorded (4 million international, 3.7 million domestic) in line with the long year-end holidays.
The international sector saw an 18 per cent increase from 3.4 million passengers in November 2023.
Concurrently, the domestic sector saw a 16 per cent increase from 3.2 million passengers.
Meanwhile, the group's Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW) handled 3.1 million total passenger movements in December 2023. These movements comprised 1.7 million international passengers and 1.4 million domestic passengers respectively.
SAW's performance contributed 29 per cent to the total traffic of 10.9 million passengers recorded by the group in December 2023.
This growth can be attributed to the airlines' rapid expansion and new operations in the international sector, it said.
For the first time, international traffic's share reached more than 50 per cent of the airport's total passengers.
Pegasus commenced services to four new routes namely, Alexandria, Egypt; Kutaisi, Georgia; Dortmund, Germany and Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Ajet (previously known as Anodolujet) launched a new service to Belgrade, Serbia whereas British Airways increased services to daily flights to Heathrow.
In addition, Flynas launched a new service to Madinah, Saudi Arabia.