Malta International Airport plc - September Traffic Results

On 4 October 2010 Malta International Airport plc published the September 2010 traffic results. The statistics show a 15.4% rise in passenger movements during September when compared to the same month last year. These figures were boosted by 5,000 delegates who last month attended the largest convention ever held in Malta.

During the first nine months of the year passenger numbers climbed 12.4% and the airport operator reiterated that the strong increase of 9.6% in seat capacity was the main driver for these successful results. In September alone, seat capacity grew by 11.5% over the corresponding period in 2009 (498,243 seats) whilst the seat load factor improved to 75% from the 72.5% registered in September 2009.

MIA also said that the French, Spanish and Italian markets grew significantly in September by 43.8%, 34.8% and 32.6% respectively. Germany also recorded a 5.9% increase whilst the UK market registered a 1.9% decline over the same period last year.

Last July MIA raised its passenger movement forecast for 2010 to +8%. This upward revision was expected to have increased the total number of passenger movements to 3.15 million in 2010 – a new record high for MIA following the previous record in 2008. MIA have not yet given official confirmation on whether its 2010 forecast of +8% will be revised upwards to reflect the 12.4% increase registered in the first nine months of the year.