Airport passenger movements up 23%

Malta International Airport saw a 23 percent increase in passenger movements last month when compared to January 2007.

Passenger movements increased by 29,437 from 127,003 in 2007 to 156,440 last month.

MIA said aircraft movements also increased, by 16%, from 1,459 to 1,694 movements, whilst cargo and mail grew by 25% with 1,538 tonnes being handled at MIA last January.

"This therefore means that the Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of all aircraft movements was of 139,067 tonnes. The seat capacity increased by over 20% to 263,313 and therefore, the average seat load factor was of 1.3% more than in January 2007," MIA said..

The company said all the main markets registered substantial growth, with Spain becoming the fourth most important market last month. The majority of passengers – 37.1% - travelled to and from the United Kingdom whilst Italy had a market share of 19.9%, followed by Germany (16%), Spain (3.7%) and France (2.8%).

In January 2008, traffic at MIA originated from 30 airports in 25 countries whilst the peak day was on January 3, with 77 aircraft movements and 9,012 passengers handled.