• Malta gained more than 52,000 passengers between November 2014 and March 2015
• MIA hosted more than a quarter of a million passengers in March
• First quarter of 2015 registered increase of 5.6 per cent over last year

Passenger traffic throughout the winter season increased by 4.5 per cent, Malta International Airport announced today.

Malta gained more than 52,000 passengers between November 2014 and March 2015 over the same winter period last year.

This shows that the co-ordinated effort of tourism stakeholders is paying off, and the island’s strategy to attract more visitors during the winter months is working.

CEO Alan Borg said: “The growth we’ve harnessed this winter has been very encouraging. The positive results achieved in this first quarter of the year motivate us to keep working towards more growth throughout 2015. We have five new airlines for this year, and three new destinations. This growing network offered from Malta by our airline partners gives the travelling public greater choice, flexibility and convenience whether they are travelling for business or for pleasure.”

For the first quarter of 2015, passenger movements at Malta International Airport registered an increase of 5.6 per cent, while aircraft movements grew by 1.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, passenger traffic in March also grew by 4.5 per cent, reaching a record of 275,334 passenger movements.

This was brought about by a 1.6 per cent increase in aircraft movements which translated into an increase of 2.2 per cent seat capacity.

The average seat load factor, which measures the percentage of filled seats on each flight, grew by 1.8 PPD last month when compared to March 2014, reaching 79.9 per cent.

The UK and Italian markets once again grew remarkably in March by 9.6 per cent and 9.8 per cent respectively. The German market shrank by 7.4 per cent, due to reduced capacity on the Frankfurt route, whilst France grew by 2.7 per cent. Traffic from Turkey also rose significantly with a 74.4 per cent increase over 2014.

The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) and Cargo and Mail decreased by 0.4 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, Malta International Airport plc continues to invest in its infrastructure and will this month complete a €1 million infrastructural investment which will see the rehabilitation and resurfacing of pavements on Taxiway Charlie.

Marketing & Brand Development

2 April 2015