KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — Passenger movements across Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) global network reached 153.3 million in 2025, reflecting a positive momentum as Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) gets underway.

MAHB said in a statement today that its 39 local airports handled 104.4 million passengers, an 11.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase.

“December 2025 was the most demanding operational month, with 10 million passengers handled across airports nationwide, a 15.5 per cent rise against a year ago.

“The month was defined by an intense festive peak between Christmas and New Year, when more than one million passengers were processed over a single three-day stretch,” MAHB said.

Its managing director Datuk Mohd Izani Ghani said the perfomance reflected the strength and readiness of airport network operations.

“Managing more than one million passengers over a concentrated three-day festive period reflects operational planning effectiveness, close coordination with airline partners, and the dedication of our frontline teams nationwide,” he said.

December passenger was recorded across major airports, led by Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), which handled 6.1 million passengers, bringing its full-year total to 63.3 million, a 10.8 per cent increase y-o-y.

Subang Airport (SZB) posted the strongest month-on-month growth of 34.4 per cent to 191,000 passengers from 142,000, while Kota Kinabalu International Airport saw passenger numbers grow 23.5 per cent to 802,000. 

Meanwhile, Langkawi International Airport (LGK) recorded a 23.0 per cent increase to 290,000, Penang International Airport (PEN) rose 12.2 per cent to 772,000, and Kuching International Airport (KCH), a 10.3 per cent rise to 540,000 passengers.

MAHB said new services launched in December 2025 further strenghtened connectivity at KLIA which includes the Xiamen Airlines’ thrice-weekly Hangzhou-Kuala Lumpur service at Terminal 2, 9 Air’s three weekly flights from Hangzhou, and Hainan Airlines’ twice-weekly Qionghai-Kuala Lumpur route.

“Batik Air Malaysia introduced six new services, including routes to Osaka (Kansai), Singapore (from Ipoh, Subang and Penang), Kuala Namu, and Jakarta (CGK). Additional services were launched by Firefly with five weekly flights to Cebu, and Sichuan Airlines with three weekly services between Chongqing and Kuala Lumpur,” it said.

Meanwhile, MAHB said its asset Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkiye, handled 49.0 million passengers in 2025, up 17.5 per cent y-o-y, with 4.2 million passengers in December alone.

MAHB said it remains focused on strengthening service resilience, enhancing capacity readiness and advancing partnership-led growth across its airport network as travel demand continues under VM2026. — Bernama