Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said earlier this week that in the Malaysian Aviation Commission’s (Mavcom) revised projections for passenger traffic this year, it expects passenger numbers to shrink as much as 75.6% to 26.6 million, compared with the 109.2 million passengers recorded in 2019.

“In this regard, airlines are expected to need a period of three years to fully recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, subject to the outbreak in the country and abroad,” he said in a written parliamentary reply on Monday.

Airlines globally have taken a hit from the pandemic as governments shut borders and grounded flights to contain the spread of the virus.

Mavcom first revised its 2020 passenger traffic forecast in June, expecting a contraction of as much as 50.3%, to 54.3 million passengers.

Both Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia X have cut staff and announced restructuring plans.

The AirAsia Group has also lowered its market recovery expectations.

Malindo Air has also launched a retrenchment exercise.