Malta International Airport plc - January Traffic Results

On 5 February, Malta International Airport plc published the January 2016 traffic results. Following the record passenger numbers during 2015, the airport operator kicked off 2016 with continued growth as passenger numbers during January grew by 13.2% to a new record of 236,552 passengers. The increased passenger traffic was due to a 9% increase in seat capacity largely related to routes from Italy, Turkey and Spain. The announcement further noted that during the last five years, passenger numbers during the month of January have grown by 40% reflecting Malta’s strategy to stimulate traffic during the shoulder months. This strategy has also led to an 11% increase in passenger numbers during the first three months of the prevailing 2015/16 winter season.

The airport operator also stated that traffic from the UK grew by 2.7% on the back of an improved seat load factor from the British market. Similarly, German passengers increased by 17.2% given the increased frequency to and from Munich whilst the French market registered a 16.7% decline due to a reduction in a number of routes to and from France. Istanbul registered the most significant growth in passenger numbers during the month of January with an increase of 39.5% which further confirms the upward trend in traffic from Turkey.

On 19 January, MIA had announced that during 2016 it is expecting a further 2.4% growth in passenger numbers to yet another record of at least 4.73 million passenger movements on the back of additional routes from both existing and new airlines as well as increased frequencies on existing destinations.