• November fourteenth consecutive month to register double-digit growth
• Over 400,000 passenger movements recorded in November

Malta International Airport continued to register solid traffic results, even as it entered its winter period, with November becoming the fourteenth consecutive month to achieve double-digit growth in passenger movements.

Last November, the airport hosted over 55,000 passengers more than it did in 2016, closing off the month with a total of 405,724 movements. This translates into an increase of 15.8 per cent over last year.

This record number of passengers for November was observed in parallel with an increase of 18.1 per cent in aircraft movements and a 19.2 per cent improvement in seat capacity. Seat load factor (SLF) for November, which marks airlines’ ability to fill available seats on flights, dropped slightly and stood at 79 per cent.

The month’s top five markets accounted for more than half of the total passenger movements for November. The United Kingdom continued to top the leaderboard with over 100,000 passenger movements, followed by Italy, Germany, France, and Belgium. While the first four markets all registered varying levels of growth, Belgium lost around 570 passenger movements when compared with 2016.

The biggest spike in passenger numbers in November was observed on the Polish market, which grew by 76.3 per cent over last year. This strong increase can be attributed to added flights on the Gdansk, Krakow and Wroclaw routes. Other markets which registered noteworthy growth stemming from improved flight schedules and additional capacity, include Turkey, Austria and the Netherlands.