• MIA’s 2017 growth lands it amongst fastest-growing airports in its class
• Double-digit growth trend persists in winter months, with January traffic growing by 16.7%

Following on from 2017’s uninterrupted double-digit growth, Malta International Airport started 2018 with an upswing of 16.7% in passenger numbers.

January traffic through MIA grew by more than 50,000 movements over the same comparable stretch in 2017, bringing the month to a close with 351,550 passenger movements.

Moreover, a number of route developments and increased flight frequencies for the winter season, contributed to a 15.2% increase in aircraft movements and a 16.8% increase in seat capacity. On the other hand, seat load factor (SLF) decreased marginally by 1.1 PPD, and stood at 71.6% for the month of January.

Outperforming Italy by just 1,450 passenger movements, the United Kingdom held on to its first place amongst Malta International Airport’s top drivers of traffic for January. These two markets were followed by Germany, France, and Poland, which cumulatively accounted for over 22% of the month’s total traffic.

Whilst all five markets registered double-digit growth, at 82.2%, Poland’s increase was by far the strongest, auguring well for the joint endeavours of Malta International Airport, the government, and the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) to maximise the potential presented by the Eastern European market through better connections with the region.

Meanwhile, traffic results released just yesterday by Airports Council International (ACI) show that Malta International Airport was one of the top five performers, in terms of full-year growth, amongst airports in its class, each hosting between five and 10 million passengers annually.

In fact, growing by 17.5% over 2016, last year was MIA’s fastest-growing one on record, falling in line with ACI’s observation that 2017 was the best year for European airports since 2004.

The same traffic report also lists Malta International Airport amongst the airports that registered an “impressive performance” between 2012 and 2017, passenger traffic during this period having increased by 65%. Peers in this list include Amsterdam-Schiphol, Dublin and Barcelona.

For the full report, please click here.