Passenger traffic across the Malaysia Airports Group’s global network reached 153.3 million passengers in 2025, highlighting strong travel momentum as Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) gets underway.
Strong growth across Malaysia’s airport network
Within Malaysia, the Group’s network of 39 airports handled a total of 104.4 million passengers during the year, representing an 11.2% year-on-year increase. Growth was supported by rising demand across both domestic and international travel segments.
December 2025 was the busiest operational month of the year, with 10 million passengers handled nationwide, a 15.5% increase compared to the same month in 2024. The festive peak between Christmas and New Year saw more than one million passengers processed over a concentrated three-day period, with operations remaining stable throughout.
Key airports record solid passenger gains
KL International Airport (KLIA) handled 6.1 million passengers in December, bringing its full-year total to 63.3 million passengers, up 10.8% year-on-year.
Other major airports also recorded strong growth during the month. Subang Airport (SZB) posted the highest month-on-month increase at 34.4%, rising to 191,000 passengers. Kota Kinabalu Airport (BKI) grew 23.5% to 802,000 passengers, Langkawi (LGK) increased 23% to 290,000 passengers, Penang (PEN) rose 12.2% to 772,000 passengers, while Kuching (KCH) recorded a 10.3% increase to 540,000 passengers.
New routes and airline partners boost connectivity
Passenger growth was supported by continued network expansion, with new airline partners and destinations added across Malaysia’s airport network. At KLIA, several new services were launched in December 2025, strengthening international and regional connectivity.
These included Xiamen Airlines’ thrice-weekly Hangzhou – Kuala Lumpur service and 9 Air’s three weekly flights from Hangzhou, both operating at KLIA Terminal 2. Hainan Airlines also introduced a twice-weekly Qionghai – Kuala Lumpur route.
Batik Air Malaysia expanded its network with six new services, including routes to Osaka (Kansai), Singapore from Ipoh, Subang and Penang, Kuala Namu, and Jakarta. Meanwhile, Firefly launched five weekly flights to Cebu, and Sichuan Airlines introduced three weekly services between Chongqing and Kuala Lumpur.
International operations in Türkiye
Beyond Malaysia, the Group’s international asset at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Türkiye handled 49.0 million passengers in 2025, marking a 17.5% year-on-year increase. In December alone, the airport processed 4.2 million passengers.
Focus on resilience ahead of Visit Malaysia 2026
As travel activity continues to build through Visit Malaysia 2026, Malaysia Airports remains focused on strengthening service resilience, enhancing capacity readiness and advancing partnership-led growth across its airport network.