Malta International Airport plc - May Traffic Results

On 4 June, Malta International Airport plc published the May 2015 traffic results revealing yet another record month with 441,943 passenger movements during the month under review, representing a 9.9% increase over the same month in 2014 and higher than the August 2011 peak of 427,575 passengers. The increased passenger traffic in May was due to a 6.3% increase in aircraft movements which led to increased seat capacity combined with a 2.6 percentage point increase in the seat load factor to 79%.

The airport operator also stated that the German and Italian markets were the largest contributors to the growth in passenger numbers during the month of May. The German market registered a 32.1% increase over May 2014, largely due to the fact that the Cruise and Fly operation was launched earlier this year. The airport also registered a 15.4% increase in traffic to and from Italy when compared to last year.

Similarly, traffic from the Netherlands increased by 15.4% to rank as the fifth largest market in May. The announcement also explained that the UK remains Malta’s largest tourism market which grew by 1.5% during the month under review.

Meanwhile, the French market contracted by 5.8% due to a reduction of the Toulouse route.

MIA’s CEO Alan Borg commented that May’s traffic figures are in part due to the result of additional routes and airlines that are connecting the airport to more parts of the world. Summer also seems to have come early on a number of the more traditional routes, which saw record passengers for this time of the year. This reflects the collaborated efforts with the Government and the Malta Tourism Authority with the aim of continuing to reduce the seasonality of Malta’s tourism market.

During the first five months of 2015, passenger movements at MIA grew by 6.5% to 1.5 million passengers. 

2015 Forecast: Earlier this year, MIA announced a forecast of a 2% increase in passenger numbers for 2015 to yet another record of circa 4.37 million passenger movements on the back of further capacity being deployed to Malta as well as a number of new airlines and routes, as well as increased frequencies on existing routes. During the Annual General Meeting held on 20 May, the CEO indicated that the forecast will be revised in July.