Malta International Airport plc - October Traffic Results

On 7 November, Malta International Airport plc published its October traffic results revealing a 10.4% increase over the same month last year to over half-a-million passengers – the first time that passenger movements exceeded the half-a-million mark in the month of October. The increase came as a result of a number of new routes, enhanced operations to destinations such as Zurich, and a better seat load factor which in the month of October improved by 2.5 percentage points to 86%.

Summer 2016  

During the period stretching from end of March 2016 till the end of October 2016, MIA registered a record 3,645,812 passenger movements which translate into a 6.3% growth when compared to summer 2015. This increase was registered on the back of an upturn of 4.3% in seat capacity and an improved seat load factor which climbed up to 85% from 83.3% in summer 2015. Moreover, a rise of 1.4% was also recorded in aircraft movements. The top five markets for the summer months were the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France and Poland.

A spike in passenger numbers of 46% put Poland’s growth well above that registered by the other four markets. While the UK and Germany both recorded an increase of 3%, the French market grew by 5% and Italy registered a more significant 11%.

Commenting on the above, MIA CEO Mr Alan Borg stated that: “Having closed off summer with these encouraging results, we’re optimistic about the upcoming winter season having recently launched our busiest winter schedule ever. With 18 new connections, our eyes are now set on hitting the ambitious 5 million passenger milestone, which would constitute a landmark accomplishment in passenger traffic for our airport.”

January to October 2016  

During the first ten months of 2016, MIA registered a 7.8% increase in passenger movements to 4.4 million when compared to the same period last year. In July, MIA had revised upwards its passenger forecast for 2016 to +7.5% to an estimated throughput of 4.97 million passengers. The initial January estimate for 2016 was for a growth of +2.4%.