Malta International Airport plc - 2012 Traffic Results & Forecast for 2013

On 22 January, Malta International Airport plc held a press conference announcing the 2012 traffic results and the  passenger movement forecast for 2013. MIA’s CEO Mr Markus Klaushofer explained that passenger volumes in 2012 were at an all-time record with an increase of 4.1% to 3.65 million passenger movements. The CEO also pointed out that passenger movements registered record volumes for the third consecutive year and the fourth record in the last five years as the Company continued with its efforts to attract airlines to Malta. MIA invested in an Incentive Scheme offering various benefits for airlines setting routes to and from Malta particularly in the winter months.

The growth achieved in 2012 was due to the 2.3 percentage point increase in the seat load factor to 78.3% as well as a 1.1% increase in seat capacity to over 4.66 million seats. Similarly, aircraft movements increased by 0.6% during 2012 to 28,200.

Mr Klaushofer stated that Air Malta remained the largest carrier in Malta as it accounted for 45.5% (2011: 47.9%) of overall traffic despite the 1.1% decline in passengers carried by the national airline. The low-cost carrier Ryanair registered increased passenger movements of 17.6% to 925,880 movements following the seven new routes introduced during the year. Ryanair now accounts for 25.4% of passenger movements, up from 22.4% in 2011. On the other hand, Easyjet registered a 6.3% decline in passengers to 319,601 movements as the airline did not maintain its Rome and Milan routes throughout the whole year. Nonetheless, this low-cost airline still has a market share of 8.8% (2011: 9.7%).

Mr Klaushofer also stated that MIA’s main markets for 2012 were the UK (30.3% of market share), Italy (17%) and Germany (14.8%).

MIA is forecasting that passenger numbers for 2013 will be 1.5% higher than those registered in 2012 to yet another annual record of over 3.7 million passengers. The CEO explained that although demand for travel, particularly from MIA’s main markets of UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, will continue to be impacted by the prevailing crisis in the eurozone, Malta is expected to attract further tourists and business travellers. Moreover, the Company’s forecast is also based on the introduction of six new routes including a new route to the East Midlands in the UK which will be operated by Monarch (the first time this airline will operating to and from MIA), three new routes by Ryanair, a new route to Oslo by airBaltic and increased frequency by Lufthansa on the Frankfurt route.

Download the full presentation made by MIA on the 2012 Traffic Results & 2013 Passenger Forecast

The new MIA Corporate Video is also available here.