More than 700,000 passengers were welcomed at Malta International Airport in May, the second consecutive month to see so many visitors.

In a statement, MIA said that with an increase of 7.7% over the same month in 2019, May traffic reached 726,299 passenger movements.

While seat capacity increased by 4.3% compared to 2019, the average seat load factor gained 2.7 percentage points over the reference year to reach 82.9%.

Italy retained its popularity in May, topping Malta International Airport’s market leaderboard with a 24% market share, followed by the UK, 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 UK and Germany continued to perform below 2019 levels, as flight connections between Malta and these two markets have not 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.

The start of flights to Hamburg and Dusseldorf in May, operated by Eurowings, is further expected to support the German market in its recovery during the summer months.