Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook says that his ministry and Mavcom have set an 85% on-time performance target for 2024 earlier this year to address the issue of delays faced by the sector. (Photo by Shahrin Yahya/The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 16): Flights operated under Malaysia Airlines experienced fewer delays in September on a month-on-month basis, but still fell short of the sector target set by the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) earlier this year.

Citing data from Mavcom, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said Malaysia Airlines’ on-time performance (OTP) — flights departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time of departure — showed signs of improvement in September.

“According to the latest data, Malaysia Airlines has shown improvement, with an OTP of 78.1% in September, compared with 58.2% in August, for domestic routes following several steps taken by the company to improve technical issues,” Loke said during an oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.

“Malaysia Airlines' OTP for international routes also showed an increase to 72.0% in September, compared with 54.7% in August,” he added.

As for Batik Air, Loke said the airline achieved an OTP of 73.8% in September versus 83.9% in August for domestic routes, while its OTP for international routes stood at 57.7% in September, compared with 71.7% in August.

“AirAsia recorded an OTP of 67.9% in September, compared with 70.8% in August for domestic routes. For international flights, AirAsia achieved an OTP of 61.7% in September, compared with 69.5% in August, while AirAsia X achieved an OTP of 81.8% in September, compared with 80.6% in August,” he continued.

Loke reiterated that the MOT and Mavcom had set an 85% OTP target for 2024 earlier this year to address the issue of delays faced by the sector.

Another indicator being monitored is that airlines are required to operate 80% of their scheduled flights while limiting cancellations to no more than 20% within a month.

“If an airline fails to meet the targets, it may affect the airline's application for renewal or additional air traffic rights from Mavcom,” Loke said.

Overall, from January to August this year, he said a total of 315,388 flights had been scheduled, with 258,112 flights operated by Malaysian airlines.

“Out of the total number of flights operated, a total of 76% of flights were on time. For flights that faced delays, 90.2% were delayed for less than two hours, while the remaining flights were delayed for more than two hours,” he added.