Malta International Airport welcomes 1,109,789 passengers in September

Malta International Airport welcomed 1,109,789 passengers in September, 12% more than in 2025, as the summer season neared its end.

The growth came as aircraft movements rose by 12.6% and seat capacity increased by 15.8%, with the airport pointing out that they put more seats on more flights than it did a year earlier.

Seat capacity grew faster than passenger numbers, however. The seat load factor, which measures the share of available seats filled, averaged 87.7% in September, down 3 percentage points from 2025.

The United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Germany and France were the airport's top five markets for the month. Together they accounted for 63% of September's passenger traffic.

Four of those five markets registered growth, to varying degrees. France was the exception, with passenger numbers down 10.7% on the previous year.

The airport figures follow strong tourism data from the National Statistics Office (NSO). Malta received 539,655 tourists in August, up 14.7% on a year earlier, and most came on holiday. Holiday travel accounted for 515,676 arrivals, while 10,484 came for business.

Across the first eight months of 2026, Malta received 3,160,974 tourists, up 17.9% on the same period in 2025. They spent €2,963.3 million, an increase of 15.6%, and total nights spent rose by 10.9% to 18.7 million.

Spending did not keep pace with arrivals over that period. Total expenditure per capita fell to €937 from €956 in 2025.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said in an interview on Sunday that tourist arrivals would exceed four million this year. He said spending reached €3.9 billion last year and €3 billion in the first eight months of this year.

Abela rejected a cap on arrivals, saying Malta should focus on the tourists it attracted. He said the budget could use fiscal measures to discourage disruptive visitors.

August spending came closer to matching arrivals. Visitors spent €629.3 million, 14.9% more than in August 2025, with average spending per visitor at €1,166.1.

Visitors spent 3,801,507 nights in Malta in August, up 9.9%, and the average stay was 7.0 nights. Rented accommodation accounted for 86.7% of guest nights, and average spending per night reached €165.5, compared with €152.2 in August 2024.

France accounted for a further 41,885 visitors, followed by Germany with 29,281 and Spain with 21,970. Visitors aged 25 to 44 formed the largest age group at 36.6% of arrivals, followed by those aged 0 to 24 at 34.7%.

The pattern of rising arrivals has run through the year. February arrivals rose 18.5% to 249,139, while May arrivals reached 457,636.

For the first five months of 2026, expenditure per capita slipped to €800 from €823 in 2025, even though total spending rose 14.7% to €1,339.6 million.

With the summer season ending later this month, the airport has launched its new winter flight schedule, featuring connections to 31 markets