The Malaysian Aviation Commission approved all 31 air traffic rights (ATR) applications during the third quarter of this year (Q3 2019).

Of the 31 applications, the regulator for economic and consumer affairs of the aviation industry said, 38.7 percent were for domestic routes, and 61.3 percent for international routes.

“Mavcom approved the ATR for 12 domestic routes, 10 ATR for routes to Asean destinations, five for destinations in China, three for other Asian destinations and Australia, and one for a destination in India.

“Of the 31 ATR, 14 were issued for flights originating from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, three from Kota Kinabalu International Airport, and the remaining 14 from other Malaysian airports,” it said in a statement today.

During the quarter, AirAsia Group received the highest number of approvals of 16 ATR, followed by Malindo Air and Malaysia Airlines Bhd, with eight and five allocations respectively.

Mavcom said 19 ATR approved in the previous quarters were not utilised by the respective airlines and subsequently returned during the third quarter.

The highest number of unused ATR was from AirAsia Group at eight and Malindo Air (seven), it said, adding, an additional four applications were also voluntarily withdrawn by the airlines during that period.

Cumulatively, Mavcom approved 100 per cent of the 135 ATR applications it received during the first nine months of this year, represented by 48 domestic ATR, 45 for Asean destinations, 21 for destinations in China and the remaining 21 for other Asian destinations and Australia.

AirAsia Group has received the highest number of ATR allocations for the year to date at 64.

- Bernama