32 new vehicles on the road every day

A document released by the National Statistics Offices shows, for 2015, an increase in air and sea passenger traffic but also a rise in road traffic accidents and emissions.

Traffic statistics also reveal:

7% increase in traffic accidents

7,249 vessels registered under Maltese flag

Air Malta remains major air carrier with 37.2% of total passenger movements

Greenhouse gas emissions from transport up by 90% since 1990

AIR TRANSPORT

In 2015, passenger traffic at the Malta International Airport reached 4,654,371, an increase of 7.7% when compared to 2014.

The UK kept the traditional trend of being the key destination also in 2015, with 1,286,012, an increase of 4.7% over the previous year and accounting for 27.6% of the total passenger movements in 2015. Italy, the second largest single destination, registered 929,703 passengers, a 13.4% increase over 2014.

The top three airports for passenger movements in 2015 were London Gatwick registering 339,777 passengers, followed by Frankfurt and Rome Fiumicino registering 282,091 and 248,835 passengers respectively.

Air Malta remained the major air carrier, accounting for 34.1% of the total aircraft movements and 37.2% of the total passenger movements. Ryanair followed closely with 1,225,846 passengers, or 26.3% of the total, with almost half of the flights of those operated by Air Malta. Ryanair registered an average of 165 passengers per flight compared to the 120 passengers per flight registered by Air Malta.

Almost 15,000 tonnes of cargo (+6.1%) and 1,450 tonnes of mail were processed by Malta International Airport.

SEA TRANSPORT

11,933 vessels arrived at Malta’s ports, in 2015, of which 2,865 were dry cargo vessels, 488 tankers, 324 passenger vessels, 602 fishing vessels and 71 yachts.

The stock of vessels registered under the Maltese flag amounted to 7,249, increasing by 8.7%.

54.2% (511) of the total newly registered vessels were pleasure yachts.

The number of cruise liner calls totalled 307. Cruise liner embarkations from Malta and landings in Malta increased by 49.1% and 51.6% respectively over 2014.

The report also gives a breakdown of Maltese fishing vessels by type. In 2015 there were 38 Bimbu boats, 22 Firilla, 12 Frejgatina, 920 Kajjik, 276 Luzzu, 1,351 MPV (multi-purpose vessel), 15 trawlers, 35 Auxiliary Vessels and 314 vessels falling under the ‘Other’ category.

Fishing vessels registered in the South Eastern district account for 28.1% of the total.

Commuters between Malta and Gozo increased by 2.1%. 1,348,502 vehicles were carried by scheduled Gozo Channel ferries, up by 5.4 % when compared to 2014.

The number of inter-island trips amounted to 20,823, up by 4.8% from 2014.

ROAD TRANSPORT

The number of reported traffic accidents increased by 7.1% over 2014, with 37.5% of these accidents recorded in the Northern Harbour.

Traffic casualties decreased by 4.7% over 2014.

Injuries sustained by 4 drivers, 2 passengers and 5 pedestrians proved fatal.

The stock of licensed motor vehicles increased at an average net rate of 32 vehicles per day.

Passenger cars accounted for 79.4% of total licensed motor vehicles, but motorcycles registered the highest increase at 9.3%.

More than half of the newly licensed motor vehicles were ‘used’.

60.6% of total licensed vehicles had petrol engines. In 2010, the share of petrol engines was 62.3%

Slightly more than 40% of total driving license holders were female.

A total of 221 vehicles were stolen (and only 43.9% were recovered).

The number of licensed motor vehicles per 1,000 residents went up to 799 from 781 in 2014.

The Gozo and Comino district registered the highest number of vehicles per 1,000 residents at 983, whereas the Southern Harbour registered the lowest ratio with 736 vehicles per 1,000 residents.

EMISSIONS (2014)

Greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion in the transport sector have steadily increased from 1990 levels.

In terms of CO2 equivalent, emissions from these sectors have cumulatively increased by approximately 16.3 per cent from 2005 levels.

The bulk of emissions are the result of fuel combustion from road transportation, which amounted to approximately 83.9 per cent of the transportation sector in 2014.

This was followed by emissions from domestic navigation, at 15.4 per cent of total transportation emissions and from national aviation, at only 0.6 per cent of total transportation emissions.

In terms of the type of greenhouse gas, CO2 comprises by far the largest share, with 98.0 per cent of emissions from fuel combustion in the transportation sector.

This is followed by nitrous oxide (N2 0) at 1.7 per cent and methane (CH4 ) at 0.3 per cent).

Since 1990, GHG emissions from transport (in CO2 equivalent), have increased by 89.9 per cent.