Malta International Airport saw a 2.9 per cent increase in traffic in October, welcoming a total of 421,726 passengers.

Last month, the total number of landings and take-offs at the airport increased by 0.5 per cent to 2,997. MIA said that these figures were stimulated by an overall seat load factor reaching 83.9 per cent for the month, compared to 81.6 per cent last year.

“We are very pleased to see the airport continue to perform steadily even during the off-peak months. Malta is slowly managing to establish itself as a year-round destination, particularly among visitors from continental Europe,” said Markus Klaushofer, Chief Executive Officer at the Malta International Airport.

The airport’s top market, the UK – representing over 28 per cent of all traffic – saw a marginal drop of 0.8% over October last year. France registered the largest growth last month at 25.8 per cent, due to increased capacity on both Paris routes and the recent introduction of the Nantes route. The other core markets, Italy and Germany, saw an increase of 8.9 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, Switzerland established itself as the fifth major market last month, marking a growth of 20.2 per cent.

Between January and October this year, Malta International Airport saw an increase of 6.7 per cent when compared to last year’s figures, hosting a total of 3,807,534 passengers.

The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) decreased by 0.3 per cent and cargo and mail increased by 12.1 per cent.

The airport’s winter schedule was launched on October 26th and can be viewed at www.maltairport.com/airlines.

Aerial photograph of MIA taken by Kurt Arrigo.

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