Growing middle class and Malaysia’s economic progress spur air travel growth
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s growing middle class population and economic progress are leading to a steady growth in the demand for air travel.
Frost & Sullivan said the growth was also contributed to the rising trend of business and leisure traffic within Asean, bringing more passengers for the intra-Asean network in hubs such as Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Changi, Suvarnabhumi, Soekarno Hatta and Ninoy Aquino airports.
The consulting firm added that travellers were self-connecting and preparing their own itineraries to connect through these hubs when traveling further to North East Asia, South Asia or further down to Australasia.
Frost & Sullivan associate director, aerospace and defence practice Amartya De said KLIA1 and klia2 were the most mature ecosystems as airport terminals in Malaysia.
“They are at the right threshold to explore the full benefits of digital transformation of airports, whilst increasing efficiency, comfort and convenience at the same time delivering a unique experience,” he said in a statement today.
A survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan on the importance of digitisation at airports among airport industry stakeholders globally revealed that airport digitisation was a key pillar in growth strategy and an important programme at the airports.
The report indicated that increasing the operational efficiency and adopting digital transformation might hold the solution to manage within the constraints.
The consulting firm noted that adding or expanding terminals would require substantial capital and long planning horizon.
Frost & Sullivan estimated that the total air passenger traffic across all Malaysian airports to reach over 250 million passengers by 2030.
To date, the country’s air traffic has crossed 100 million passengers this year.
“Airports globally as well as in the region are being transformed by the ongoing digitisation of processes, products and services.
“This has further enhanced connectivity of travellers and employees, as well as the evolution of big data analytics,” Amartya added.
He said airport operators had implemented new digital solutions to optimise their processes, enhance business and operation models in an effort to improve customer experience.
However, he pointed out that the pace of digital transformation differs greatly, depending on the airport size, location, operation and key internal and external stakeholders.
“Budgets, ownership, stakeholder complexity, regulation, competition and expansion plans impact digital planning and the rate of adoption,” he said.
Source: NST