Capacity in Malaysia’s international market is 38% higher during the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, compared with the same period a year ago. This puts it back to about 89% of pre-pandemic levels.

The reopening of China has been a major driver of international capacity, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows, with the number of available departure seats to mainland China from Malaysia surging to almost 770,000 during the first three months of the year, up from 124,000 in Q1 2023.

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Other international markets like Hong Kong and Indonesia have recovered well over the past 12 months, while service to Thailand is up 19% year-on-year, India is up 18.8%, Australia us up 15.9% and Vietnam is up 17.5%.

Malaysia expects to welcome 27.3 million international tourists in 2024, up from 20 million in 2023 when the country exceeded its previous target for the year by 5%.

Domestically, capacity in Malaysia’s competitive market is up by approximately 1% year-on-year and back to about 77% of pre-pandemic levels. The annual increase comes despite MYAirline suspending operations last October. The carrier accounted for about 7% of the market.