PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) set a new record after handling 12,437 passengers in just one hour.
The record number was notched between 7pm and 8pm on Sept 13.
The surge was attributed to the Malaysia Day long weekend coinciding with the start of the week-long school holidays, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) said in a statement on Friday (Sept 26).
"During this peak hour, Terminal 1 handled 6,799 passengers while Terminal 2 recorded 5,638 passengers.
"On a normal day, KLIA typically handles between 8,000 and 11,000 passengers in a peak hour, making this the highest throughput to date.
"Across the same day that the record was set, KLIA served a total of 191,000 passengers (130,000 international, 61,000 domestic), while over the extended holiday period from Sept 12 to 21, the airport handled 1.8 million passengers, surpassing the 1.7 million recorded during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri peak earlier this year," MAHB added.
It said airport operations remained seamless throughout the high passenger volume period.
"Enhanced passenger flow systems and upgraded facilities enabled smoother throughput and reduced waiting times, while staff across both terminals worked in full coordination to ensure an efficient travel experience," it said.
MAHB managing director Datuk Mohd Izani Ghani said handling such a surge showed KLIA's ability to scale with demand.
"Our focus is not just on managing current peak volumes but on building future-ready infrastructure and capabilities that strengthen Malaysia’s position as a global aviation hub.
"We are expanding airline partnerships, embedding technology, and driving innovation to ensure passengers continue to enjoy a seamless journey at our airports," he said.
Izani noted that KLIA’s momentum was also reflected in its August 2025 performance, with 3.9 million international passengers and 1.6 million domestic passengers, bringing the monthly total to 5.5 million.
Across the Malaysia Airports local network, a total of 9.1 million passengers were handled in August, a 2.2% increase from July.
MAHB said the expanding airline network also contributed to this growth, with two new carriers starting operations here in August.
They include Hong Kong Express at Subang airport and Jiangxi Airlines at KLIA.
These additions strengthen regional connectivity and offer passengers more travel choices across Asia, MAHB added.
Meanwhile, it said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (ISG), handled 4.7 million passengers last month, comprising 2.6 million international and 2.1 million domestic.
