• July’s passenger movements exceed record held by August 2016 by 12 per cent
• Growth registered by both aircraft movements and seat capacity
• 4,562 take-offs and landings observed during the month

Summer is in full swing at Malta International Airport, with the number of travellers passing through the terminal in July increasing by more than 90,000 passenger movements. This translates into an upturn of 15.5 per cent over the same month last year.

July’s 675,111 passenger movements exceeded the airport’s previous passenger traffic record, held by August 2016, by 12 per cent.

As noted also in previous months, July’s thriving numbers resulted from an increase in aircraft movements. These grew by 13.6 per cent to reach an all-time record of 4,562 take-offs and landings by the end of July. In parallel with this growth, seat capacity registered an increase of 16.5 per cent. Despite a slight drop of 1.3 percentage points, last month’s seat load factor (SLF) still stood at a healthy 86.7 per cent.

The top five drivers of traffic to Malta International Airport remained unchanged from June, with the United Kingdom topping the list followed by Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. These markets recorded varying levels of growth, and cumulatively were responsible for a leap of around 53,000 passenger movements when compared to July 2016.

Passenger numbers from these markets flourished as a result of enhanced capacity and flight frequencies on routes such as Glasgow, Bari, Frankfurt, Lyon, and Madrid, as well as the launch of new routes including Bordeaux and Valencia.

July’s traffic brought the total number of travellers welcomed at Malta International Airport in the first seven months of the year up to around 3.3 million. Towards the end of the month, the airport published its mid-yearly forecast, whereby it announced that it is expecting circa 5.8 million passengers to go through the terminal by the end of the year.