Langkawi International Airport has been named one of the seven best airports in the world by the Airports Council International (ACI).

The Kedah airport will also join the ACI director-general’s Roll of Excellence, an additional recognition given to airports that passengers consider having consistently delivered excellent services.

Malaysia Airports group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said this affirmation will further motivate the airport community to continue giving their best despite this challenging period.

“This recent accolade is also a testament of our commitment and efforts to continuously raise the bar in service and quality standards.

“We look forward to the public regaining confidence in air travel as we continually implement the highest level of safety measures at the airport and ensure that passenger experience is not compromised, ” he said.

The Langkawi International Airport has consistently scored highly for customer service and won ACI awards such as Best Small Airport by Region and Best Airport by Size (two to five million passengers per annum).

The airport was upgraded and expanded in 2018 to cater to four million passengers annually.

Last year, it also went through a commercial reset where retail and dining experiences were revamped to offer passengers a unique airport experience.

The airport recorded a total of 2.9 million passenger movements last year, an 8% increase from 2018.

In other developments, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) continues to see a steady increase in monthly total passenger movements that continues to surpass the one million mark from July.

There was a substantial increase in flight frequencies by airlines at all airports in Malaysia where KL International Airport saw a 33% increase.

Other international airports in Penang, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching showed a combined increase of 75%.

“The domestic sector is still the main driver in our gradual traffic recovery. Ninety percent of our total passenger traffic is made up of domestic traffic movements, ” said Mohd Shukrie.

Mohd Shukrie added that MAHB will continue to improve safety and efficiency to prepare its airports once air travel picks up again.

“We want to be well-prepared as we are expecting a surge in passenger movements when the borders reopen, ” he said.