Izah Azahari
The trend for passenger movement – including entry, exit and stopover – through Brunei International Airport showed an increase of 55 per cent with the re-opening of borders on August 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, according to a Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications (MTIC) release examining the impact of re-opening the Sultanate’s borders for non-essential travel, especially air and sea control posts.
An assessment was made in terms of the number of passenger movements through the Brunei International Airport and the Serasa Ferry Terminal after two years of implementing strict restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 in the country.
In the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger movements increased every year and in 2019 recorded the highest number of 2,186,825.
On average, the growth rate of passenger movement in this country is 5.5 per cent every year (2015 to 2019).
Based on a compounding rate of 5.5 per cent every year, the number of passenger movements is expected to return to the 2019 level in 2026.
Meanwhile passenger movements at the Serasa Ferry Terminal showed an increase since border re-opening in August 2022 with a total of 1,146 passengers leaving and 950 passengers entering via the terminal.
For the following month, the number of passenger movements out and in through the terminal continued to increase by five per cent with 3,263 passengers recorded. December 2022 recorded the highest number, coinciding with the school holiday season, with 6,903 passengers leaving and entering the country.
Pre-pandemic, 2016 saw the most passenger movement at 182,753.
The statistics for the following years (2015 to 2019) decreased, recording an average passenger movement of 171,566 over the period.
If the total number of passenger movements for 2022 (23,166) doubles every year, it is then expected that in 2025 it will reach the highest level since 2016.
