Kuala Lumpur, Aug 1 (IANS): Malaysia's air passenger number climbed to 8.1 million in June, a 12.1 per cent increase year-on-year and a 2.3 per cent increase month-on-month, official data showed Thursday.

The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) said in a statement that the increase was attributed to several public holidays driving domestic travel, with domestic passenger traffic rising 4.2 per cent month on month, from 3.9 million in May to 4.1 million in June.

Traffic in June was evenly split between domestic and international flights, accounting for 50.0 per cent of the total each, Xinhua news agency reported.

Overall, air passenger traffic in June reached 86.5 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in June 2019.

ASEAN passenger traffic showed the highest recovery rate, with 2.2 million passengers in June, achieving a recovery rate of 93.3 per cent.

In the first half, total air passenger traffic reached 46.6 million, marking a 15.3 per cent increase year-on-year.

International air passenger traffic was particularly strong, standing at 24 million, up 35.9 per cent.

However, domestic passenger traffic decreased 0.7 per cent year-on-year to 22.6 million passengers.

The international traffic held a higher share than domestic traffic during the first half of the year.

"The increase in international routes and flight frequencies signals a positive trend toward the global normalization of air travel," said Saripuddin Kasim, executive chairman of MAVCOM.