Malta airport sees 3.2 million passengers in first half of 2019, up almost 6%

A busy first half of 2019 saw Malta International Airport welcome over 3.2 million passengers, a 5.9% rise over the same period last year.

Record passenger numbers were registered every month this year so far, but April, with a 10.5% increase in passenger traffic, was the fastest growing.

In a mid-year update Tuesday, the airport said that its performance in the first half of this year strengthened its confidence that 7.2 million passenger movements will be recorded by the time 2019 comes to a close.

The airport highlighted that, according to the analyses published last week by Airports Council International (ACI) in its Airport Industry Connectivity Report 2019, MIA’s connectivity doubled between 2009 and 2019, putting it in the lead in a group of 26 airports in the European Union.

Airport CEO Alan Borg credited the results to the airport constant efforts, together with those of the government and tourism stakeholders.

(Source: Malta International Airport)

“These solid results stem from Malta International Airport’s constant efforts, made together with government and our main tourism stakeholders, to make sure that the islands are served by the most convenient connections all year round,” Borg said.

“The launch of three new routes this October, the extension of 17 routes from summer into the upcoming winter season, and increased flight frequencies on several routes, allow us to look ahead with confidence, whilst encouraging us to keep working on securing sustainable traffic,” he added.

The United Kingdom remained Malta’s top market for June - accounting for over 172,000 of the month’s total of 721,565 passenger movements - and Gatwick was the most popular airport.

Germany was the fastest-growing market, experiencing an almost 30% increase in movements.