James Gota 0 Report post Posted October 14, 2008 Malaysia's Air Passenger Traffic Expected To Remain Stable By Nurul Jannah Kamaruddin KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's air passenger traffic is likely to remain stable despite challenges in the global economy which caused sluggish air traffic demand in the Asia Pacific, according to the Airports Council International (ACI). Its director-general Angela Gittens said as at July 2008, Malaysia registered a 10 percent rise in traffic for the first seven months of the year, the highest increase recorded during the period. She said for August 2008, the Asia Pacific figures showed a sharp drop with China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea among the countries suffering the most significant declines. However, Gittens said Malaysia's air passenger traffic seemed to be stable during the period due to the country's well diversified economy compared to others in the region. "If you see stability when almost everyone has been facing a decrease or volatile situation, I would expect the trend and the stability to continue," she said in an interview. Gittens said even if the air passenger traffic was down slightly due to the slower global growth, Malaysia's stable economy will help the industry to remain stable. "It's probably down some as what had happened in other places due to the slower global growth but the economy will help keep the air industry more stable than others though this is a global market," she said. Citing Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd's managing director Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad as a good example of excellent leadership and management, Gittens said Bashir, who is in the Asia Pacific governing board, has contributed in developing the industry. "The airport (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) has been a leader in quality. Its traffic is very sound and stable. It's economically viable and it has been able to raise the capital it needed to response to customers' needs," she said. "Bashir is very active and he is on the ACI board helping airports in developing countries. So Malaysia has contributed to the leadership of this industry," she added. ACI has 596 members operating over 1,678 airports in 177 countries and territories. Last year, its members handled 4.8 billion passengers, 88.6 million metric tonnes of freight and 76.4 million aircraft movements. -- BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=364349 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
