LONDON – The parent company for Malaysian national carrier Malaysian Airlines, Firefly, MASwings, and Amal, the Malaysian Aviation Group Bhd (MAG) is on the path to restoring 70% of its pre-Covid-19 capacity by end of the year.
The MAG group has crafted the capacity restoration strategy ahead of the summer season as Malaysia will be reopening its borders for international travelers from 1st April 2022.
Since Covid-19 has left a significant impact on the global aviation industry forcing airlines to ground their aircraft and thus halting all the operations, Malaysian Aviation Group was no different from the aftermaths faced by the aviation sector across the globe.
At the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, the MAG was forced to slash its capacity by 96% as increasing travel restrictions were imposed on a global scale.
But with recent development in the aviation sector related to safe passage and vaccinated travel corridors, many of the Southeast Asian countries are reopening their borders for foreign travelers, including Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
As the Malaysian government is gearing up to open its borders for the foreigners thus bringing a boom to the Malaysian aviation industry after harsh 2 years, the spokesperson at MAG expressed to theedgemarkets.com by saying:
“For January and February 2022, we operated at about 23% of 2019’s available seat kilometers (ASK) levels for the same period. Moving forward, we intend to ramp up capacity in line with borders re-opening and demand forecasts.”
Furthermore, MAG Group Chief Executive Officer, Captain Izham Ismail added his views by saying, “In support of the safe reopening of the nation’s borders, MAG will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Transport, in reinstating flights that have been temporarily suspended and also increase frequency to key markets to facilitate connectivity as we anticipate pent-up demand from inbound and outbound travelers.”
The tourism industry contributes to Malaysia’s GDP by 5.9%, with significant tourist arrivals from neighboring Asian countries.
With the pandemic looming over the tourism industry, where the international arrivals were significantly affected, Prime Minister of Malaysia Ismail Sabri Yaakob asserted to the nation that the international borders of Malaysia will be opening from 1st April 2022 thus transiting in the endemic phase of Covid-19 and re-establishing Malaysia’s economy.
With the safe travel confidence re-established within the customers, it will boost the aviation economy of Malaysia, and the aviation sector can then continue to contribute to the economic recovery, said Captain Izham Ismail.
Captain Izham Ismail further asserted that “MAG stands guided by the government’s directives and appreciates the government’s intervention to simplify the standard operating procedures so that travelers entering Malaysia can do so seamlessly.”
“As a member of the Travel Safe Alliance Malaysia, MAG will continue to advocate and facilitate seamless, safe, and hygienic travel experiences for all its passengers by ensuring high standards of safety and hygiene put in place throughout all travel touchpoints in line with its MHFlySafe initiative.”
