More than 150 daily take-offs, landings at MIA in June

There were 4,685 take-offs and landings at Malta International Airport (MIA) in June, which translate into 156 landings and takeoffs a day.

Traffic increased by 14.6 per cent to reach 663,088 passenger movements, MIA said in a statement yesterday.

Growth in passenger numbers was observed in parallel with a 15.1 per cent increase in aircraft movements and a 14.4 per cent increase in seat capacity. Despite this significant growth in the number of seats available, seat load factor (SLF) remained at 82.7 per cent.

Double-digit growth was recorded for four out of the top five markets: United Kingdom (+14.6%), Italy (+18.9%), France (+17.8%) and Spain (+49.1%). Germany was the only country amongst Malta Airport’s top five markets to register a decrease (-3.0%) during the month of June. This was due to a reduced schedule by TUI cruises, affecting the cruise and fly passenger traffic throughput.

Passenger movements to and from the Spanish market increased substantially following the introduction of three completely new routes to Malaga, Seville and Bilbao, and an enhanced flight frequency on the Barcelona route as part of the airport’s summer schedule.

MIA said the UK remains the top market, with 168,455 passenger movements during the period under review. The most popular airport is London Gatwick, with 40,084 passenger movements. Seat capacity was 802,004 seats. The busiest day of the month was 24 June, with 27,170 passenger movements.

In June 1,452 tonnes of cargo and mail passed through MIA.