• For the first time this year, October registers double-digit growth of 10.2% over 2014.
• Malta International Airport welcomed its four millionth passenger a month earlier than last year.
• Traffic via Turkey almost doubled while The Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden all increased by over 25%

Overview

Autumn at Malta International Airport began on a positive note this year with passenger numbers comparable to those typically experienced during the early summer months. Passenger movements this October showed the greatest increase of any month in 2015 so far, with a 10.2% growth over October 2014. The airport also saw its four millionth passenger last month, a considerable shift forward from last year when passenger figures hit this same milestone on the 21st of November, a full month later. In total, 464,557 passengers passed through the airport, representing a net gain of 42,834, over October last year. The rise in traffic has moved in line with seat capacity growth of 11.4% last month.

MIA CEO Alan Borg said: “To lend context to the high October traffic results we are seeing today, we only need to remember that as little as three years ago these numbers were considered good for August, our peak month. This demonstrates the effectiveness of collaboration within our sector to smooth out the seasonal peaks and troughs in the travel industry through effective destination marketing and enhanced connectivity.

Elevating inbound traffic in off-peak seasons will continue to be a key priority as we move forward, especially since it leads to better utilization of Malta’s hospitality infrastructure outside of the summer months.”

Traffic Variations

With the exception of Germany which underwent a dip of 7.3%, all of the airport’s top ten performing countries last month exceeded their passenger numbers over the previous year. France demonstrated a modest increase of 1.4%, while Turkey shot ahead, almost doubling its numbers from 6,705 to 12,949 passengers this October. Additional flights to The Netherlands also led passenger figures to grow by an impressive 40.4%. Other high-performing countries include Austria and Sweden which increased by 20.8% and 29%, as well as Switzerland which saw a 29% boost due to the entry of a new carrier into the Swiss market. The top two destinations remained the UK and Italy which grew by 9.6% and 10.1% respectively and constituted a combined total of 18,626 additional passengers last month.

Cargo & Mail

In October, cargo increased by 3.6% which constituted an additional 52 tonnes. This means the airport carried the equivalent of 2,300 filled suitcases in additional cargo when compared to the figures registered last year.

Marketing & Brand Development

5 November 2015