"Malaysia Airports Bullish Of Middle East Sector"

Friday, September 27, 2002  

Malaysia Airports Bullish Of Middle East Sector
By Marimuthu Magesvaran 
Malaysia - Bernama


KUALA LUMPUR, -- Strangely, the unfortunate Sept 11 shock incident has
been a "blessing" of a sort for Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB)
which expects monumental growth in the number of passengers headed this
way from the Middle East sector. 

Signs of increased passenger flow from the Middle East are already
visible, with people from the region crowding popular tourist spots like
the Kuala Lumpur City Centre shopping mall and even the entertainment
centres at Genting Highlands. 

In briefing investors, who flocked to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's
annual "Investors Week" event, MAHB's general manager, research,
planning and investors relation, Iskandar Mizal Mahmood acknowledged
that the flow from the Middle East sector has been upbeat in the
aftermath of Sept 11. 

However, he pointed out that MAHB had even before the event, ie early
last year, embarked on a massive strategic review and mapped out a plan
to tap the niche markets, including the Middle East sector. 

He added that MAHB is looking at the sector, not just on its own
strength, but as a linkage between the European market and this region,
which includes Southeast Asia, North East Asia and Australia. 

Iskandar noted that the initiative is an integral component of MAHB's
revenue enhancement programme and thus far it has resulted in favourable
yield as evident by the significant rise in the average seat offering
capacity per week. 

At the moment, the Middle East sector is very small compared with the
core market, the Asia sector, but in a couple of years it will be a
significant niche market and that is why MAHB is zooming in, he added. 

In terms of passenger movement from the Middle East sector, there was a
126.7 percent jump to 31,966 in the summer (March to October) 2002
period compared with 14,100 in the 2001 winter period of between October
and March. 

The load factor was between 70 and 75 percent and improving gradually. 

He also said MAHB is trying to get the Middle East airlines to look at
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as their regional hub and also
set up their regional headquarters here. 

They will certainly be encouraged by the tax incentives regarding
regional headquarters proposed in the recent 2003 Budget, he added. 

During the first half of this year, KLIA registered a positive
international passenger growth of 1.2 percent and the growth was much
better in the second quarter compared with the first quarter of this
year. 

Iskandar said the improvement was partly contributed by new frequencies
and new carriers at KLIA. At the moment, there are 43 international
carriers at KLIA and it links 80 international destinations. 

With the improving economic climate, low fare operations and additional
frequencies, passenger and cargo movements are expected to grow in the
second half of this year, he added.


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