KUCHING: Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) saw its first double digit growth for passenger traffic in 14 months, rising by a robust 12.3 per cent year on year (y-o-y) in September.

MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) said the total of 7.5 million passengers marked the first time passenger traffic exceeded seven million pax in the month of September and the only double-digit growth recorded since July 2015.

This brings up the cumulative year-to-date growth to 4.4 per cent y-o-y which is slightly above ours and management’s forecasts of three per cent y-o-y and 2.5 per cent y-o-y respectively.

“Both the international and domestic sectors performed well, recording growth of 15.3 per cent y-o-y and 9.8 per cent y-o-y respectively representing well rounded growth in travel demand,” it said in a report yesterday.

The group’s Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (ISG) International airport in Turkey is stabilising, MIDF Research observed, as it trimmed its monthly decline from minus five per cent y-o-y in August to minus 0.4 per cent y-o-y in September.

“This indicates that sentiment is recovering following the attempted coup, declaration of state of emergency and subsequent travel advisories by several large countries,” it added.

“The improvement was anchored by the domestic sector, which staged a small recovery from minus 2.9 per cent y-o-y drop in August to a 1.1 per cent y-o-y growth in September. Looking forward, we believe ISG would continue to stage a nascent recovery as sentiment improves and seasonal travel picks up toward the end of the year.”

MIDF Research revised upwards its total passenger forecast following the better than expected performance of passenger traffic witnessed thus far in 9M16.

“Coupled with our expectation of a stronger growth in 4QFY16 due to China’s golden week, the Formula 1 race and long school holidays, we are revising upward our passenger traffic forecast by one percentage point from three per cent y-o-y to four per cent y-o-y in FY16.”

Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd (Kenanga Research) meanwhile believed the overall increase was mainly due to improved average load factor to 74.7 per cent, 21 airlines recording double-digit YoY growth, and new foreign airlines operating in September 2016.

Strongest yearly growth at KLIA Main for FY16. For September, KLIA’s main terminal registered a record growth of 35.2 per cent y-o-y in FY16 with international and domestic passengers registering positive growth of 27.2 and 62.5 per cent, respectively.

The exceptional growth is due to Malaysia Airlines Bhd regaining market share in the domestic and international front registering its first positive growth of 10 per cent y-o-y in FY16 coupled with Malindo and Lion Air shifting operations from KLIA 2 to KLIA Main since March 15 this year.