Air Malta has said that it continues to be the driving force behind the increases in tourism arrivals registered this year, contributing 57% of the 77,000 additional passengers who have flown to Malta in the first six months of the year.

The estimates released recently by the National Statistics Office show that inbound tourists for the first half of the year increased by 15% to 577,313 over the same period last year. 57% of this increase was directly contributed by Air Malta that also transported 15% more inbound passengers than the previous year during the first two quarters of this year.

In June 2008 Air Malta continued to register the same double digit growth recorded over the last eight months. Traffic in June increased by 13% (17% if one excludes the additional traffic registered last year due to the canonisation of Dun Gorg Preca).

Commenting on these figures, Chief Officer Commercial, Dr. Brock Friesen said, “We are building on the positive results registered last winter, when, for the first time in its history, Air Malta transported over half a million passengers. In the first half of the year the Maltese airline has yet again consolidated its position as the preferred airline amongst visitors from all European countries of origin.

Dr Friesen added, “Figures(1) released this month by the Association of European Airline (AEA) also confirm that Air Malta was one of the few European airlines that registered double digit growth from January till June this year. The industry figures confirm that in the first six months of the year Air Malta transported 14.6% more passengers.”

Dr Friesen attributed these figures to the continuous refinement of pricing policies, aggressive international advertising and successful direct selling on the airline’s portal www.airmalta.com. Through our enhanced distribution tools, investments in revenue management systems and reporting tools, new setups of e-business and international call centre and re-launched web portal and booking engine we are generating additional inbound traffic. Moreover, the network is now focussed on frequent services to the richest markets, rather than once weekly services to regional points.

“The Maltese tourism industry is strongly benefiting from Air Malta’s traffic growth. The results and outlook for July and August are also quite positive, although double digit growth figures are not projected. This is inline with the airline’s projected figures for summer as the Maltese Islands perform very well and both the airline and hotel accommodation figures are very high during peak months”, added Friesen.

Apart from the point to point traffic increases Air Malta is also actively pursuing other off-line markets. The existing code-share agreements with Lufthansa, Air One, and Turkish Airlines will be further consolidated with other airline partners in the next few months whereby Air Malta will continue to expand its network. Today, both the Maltese travellers and tourists wishing to visit the islands, have daily connectivity via European hubs to/from over 200 destinations worldwide. Air Malta has also implemented over 20 interline e-ticketing airline agreements allowing the Maltese passenger seamless travel with through check in baggage facilities.

“Last month we have introduced web check-in whereby customers can check in and select their seats from their home or office as early as 23 hours before their Air Malta flight. The new facility is proving to be very popular and we have witness a steady increase in passengers benefiting from this new service. Through our new revamped easy-to-use travel portal Air Malta has presented its customers with a simple and transparent method without resorting to hidden charges. Our web portal and internet booking engine are generating exceptional results. We are now selling well over 20% of our airline seats through our booking engine. Also the new online services launched together with Expedia such as hotel accommodation in Malta and abroad, booking and reservations for major attractions, shows and events, museum passes, theater and football tickets, city tours and a host of activities happening worldwide, have become popular with our online customers. We have also launched our online travel insurance cover through the Mondial Assistance Group, a leader in this field. We are working to offer a one-stop-shop of travel related products on our portal www.airmalta.com,” concluded Dr Friesen.

Air Malta said it is the only airline really committed towards the local tourism industry and throughout its 35 years of sterling service has shown that it the major driving force behind the development of the local industry. The Maltese airline remains committed to continue offering this commitment and services both to the Maltese and foreign travellers as well as to the local tourism industry.

(1) European Airline Traffic in June, (Association of European Airlines) 06 August 2008. (http://files.aea.be/News/PR/Pr08-029.pdf)

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