KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) handled 4.3% more passengers in November compared with the same period a year ago, with traffic boosted by growth from both international and domestic passenger movements.

A total of 8.27 million passengers passed through the 39 airports it operates in Malaysia last month, compared with 7.93 million in November 2017.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the airport operator said international sector recorded a growth of 4% to 4.3 million passenger movements, while domestic sector was up 4.6% to 4 million passengers. 

Aircraft movements rose by 5.1%, with average load factor at 74.4% in November, down 1.4 percentage points from November 2017. 

The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang handled 4.99 million passengers in November, up 3.3% from 4.83 million passengers recorded a year ago.

Out of this, passenger traffic at KLIA Main Terminal rose 2.1% to 2.32 million in November, while klia2 saw a 4.4% increase in traffic to 2.67 million.

Systemwide including its Istanbul operations in Turkey, MAHB handled 3.8% more passengers at 10.86 million in November compared with 10.47 million a year ago.

Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport's (SGIA) passenger traffic grew 2.3% year-on-year in November to 2.6 million from RM2.54 million a year ago.

MAHB said the 3.8% systemwide passenger traffic growth was driven by airlines launch of new routes for both international and domestic sector, additional frequencies and operation of new airlines.

In a separate filing, MAHB announced the incorporation of Malaysia Airports (Subang) Sdn Bhd (MA Subang) to undertake all businesses relating to Subang Airport regeneration.

"The incorporation of MA Subang is not expected to have any effect on the earnings or net assets of MAHB for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018," it said.

MAHB shares closed down 8 sen or 1.02% at RM7.73 today, with 518,000 shares done, bringing a market capitalisation of RM12.83 billion.