Last Updated on Saturday, 10 June, 2023 at 9:02 am by Andre Camilleri
May was the second consecutive month to surpass the 700,000-passenger mark
May’s average seat load factor stood at 82.9 per cent
New developments for Germany are expected to support the recovery of this market
May was the second consecutive month during which more than 700,000 passengers were welcomed at Malta International Airport. Registering an increase of 7.7 per cent over the same month in 2019, May traffic amounted to 726,299 passenger movements.
While seat capacity increased by 4.3 per cent compared to 2019, the average seat load factor (SLF) gained 2.7 percentage points over the reference year to reach 82.9 per cent.
Italy retained its popularity in May, topping Malta International Airport’s market leaderboard with a 24 per cent market share, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain.
Italy, France and Spain all outperformed their respective 2019 passenger traffic results. The growth registered by the first two markets was driven by an increase in flights to and from these destinations, while the growth of the Spanish market was largely the result of improved seat load factors.
On the other hand, the United Kingdom and Germany continued to perform below 2019 levels, as flight connections between Malta and these two markets have not been fully recovered.
Despite this slow recovery, out of the top five markets, Germany registered the highest increase in seat load factor compared to May 2019. Moreover, the start of flights to Hamburg and Dusseldorf, in May, operated by Eurowings is expected to support the German market in its recovery during the summer months.
