KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — The recent debates and opinions surrounding the privatisation of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd have captured significant public and industry attention.
Through their perspectives, we aim to uncover how this venture is poised to benefit not just MAHB, but also the nation.Malaysia has the potential to really boost its aviation connectivity but currently, it’s not doing as well as it should. Before the pandemic hit, Malaysia’s inbound tourism growth in the past 10 years was only around 1.0 per cent per annum, which was way behind our neighbours that were growing at about 8.0 per cent per year .
We need to improve connectivity which is one of the key focus areas for Khazanah’s Malaysia Strategy for 2024. There’s no doubt that airports are super important for our economy; their connectedness helps to promote more business, tourism and cargo. We need our airports to be regionally competitive to support the operations of existing airlines and to attract more airlines. To do this, we need to invest.
5. Why was Global Infrastructure Partners chosen and what is the role of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ?This is a question that many out there are asking. Before I answer, please allow me to provide some context. Our consortium partners are ADIA and GIP, both of which formed a co-owned entity to join the consortium. Together, they will hold a 30 per cent partnership with Khazanah and EPF, meaning the Malaysian parties will have a 70 per cent stake.
ADIA is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, adding significant financial muscle to our group. They have extensive experience with investing in and supporting the growth of airports, as they did with GIP in Gatwick Airport in the UK. Their involvement also shows that international investors have confidence in our country.
Edinburgh Airport is an illustrative example. Since GIP took over in 2012, passenger numbers have jumped from 9.2 million to 14.4 million in 2023, and more importantly, the number of destinations have increased by 141 to 225. Compare that to Glasgow Airport, which has seen passenger traffic increasing from 7.2 million to only 7.4 million during the same period.