KUALA LUMPUR, 29 October 2018: Malaysia’s growing middle class population is driving a steady growth in demand for air travel and strengthening the role of its gateway airport.
The has been a substantial growth of business and leisure traffic within ASEAN, between existing hubs such as KLIA, Singapore’s Changi, Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok, Soekarno Hatta in Jakarta and Ninoy Aquino airport in Manila mainly from intra-ASEAN travel.
These are some of the core findings of a recent survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan among airport industry stakeholders.
The survey showed more travellers are self-connecting and preparing their own itineraries choosing which of these hubs they like to connect through when traveling within the Asia-Pacific region.
On the importance of digitisation at airports, 28% of airport industry stakeholders said airport digitisation was a key pillar in their growth strategy, while 38% replied that it was the most important programme at any airport. The remaining 30% believed airport digital transformation was an umbrella term grouping all projects, but not a separate programme and barely 4% mentioned that they hadn’t focused on it at all.
“KLIA1 and KLIA2 are the most mature ecosystems as airport terminals in Malaysia and 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”, said Frost & Sullivan associate director, Aerospace & Defence Practice, Amartya De.
Increasing the operational efficiency and adopting digital transformation might hold the solution to manage within the constraints specially when adding more terminals or substantial expansion, which is not only expensive, but also requires a long planning horizon the report recommended.
Frost & Sullivan estimates that passenger traffic across all Malaysian airports, which has crossed 100 million passengers in 2018, will reach 250 million passengers, or more by 2030.
Some airports in Malaysia are currently handling beyond their designed capacity, with Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport being the forerunner. City airports such as Subang, would also benefit adopting more digital assets to enhance airport experience.
“Airports globally as well as in the region are being transformed by the ongoing digitization of processes, products and services, the enhanced connectivity of travellers and employees, as well as the evolution of big data analytics”, said Amartya De.
Frost & Sullivan identifies the key tenets of Airport 2030 as intelligent passenger tracking, automated intelligent buildings, digital management of energy and waste, seamless connectivity, predictive retailing, predictive security, and smart operation planning.
Malaysia has a healthy aviation sector aptly supported by local airlines such as Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo. Airline seat capacity has grown by more than 40% since 2011 with low cost carriers leading the charge.
The load factor has rebounded after a brief decline from 2013 to 2015. The improvement reflects the matching of capacity and demand, as some airlines have rationalized their capacity.
Amartya added, “Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia are some of the other regional players that are potentially looking towards digital transformation of airports as many of them are grappling with over-capacity at their key airports and restrained capacity expansion, but Malaysia’s existing airport ecosystem is more mature and hence at the brink of harvesting benefits from digital transformation. However, delays in taking steps in the right direction might enable competitors to catch up.”
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