Passenger movements saw some upward movement in June but were still far away from the norm, figures issued on Wednesday show. 

Malta Airport said it welcomed 190,505 passengers by the end of the month as tourism was formally opened. That figure marked an improvement over the previous months, but was still down by 73.6 per cent compared to June 2019.

The top drivers of passenger traffic were Italy, Germany, France, Poland, and Spain, with the Spanish market making a comeback among the airport's five most popular destinations following the resumption of flights to Valencia and Seville in June.

MIA observed that a travel sentiment survey conducted by the European Travel Comission in May showed that Europeans who were planning to travel in summer showed a preference for Southern European destinations including Spain, Italy, France, and Greece.

The United Kingdom did not appear among the top five drivers of traffic, despite Malta’s greenlisting towards the end of June. It moved up a place from May to rank sixth among the airport’s  top markets.