The number of people arriving Malta from abroad plummeted last month as COVID-19 restrictions continued to take their toll on air travel, latest figures show.

In September, Malta International Airport handled 50,359 flights, a drop of 82.5 per cent when compared to the same month in 2019.

Noting that statistics should be interpreted in context of the COVID-19 situation, the National Statistics Office said that 46,966 arrivals were tourists and 2,074 were business travelers.

Most arrivals were aged between 25 and 44 years (48.8%), followed by those within the 45-64 age bracket (24.5%).

Germany was the largest travel market with a share of 21.7% of the total. In a typical year, Italy and the UK are Malta's largest travel markets.

When compared to September 2019, total nights spent went down by 77.4%t, amounting to 470,732 nights. 

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €39.8 million, a drop of 84.5% over the same month in 2019.

January-September 2020

Inbound tourist trips for the first nine months of 2020 amounted to 583,776, a decrease of 72.7% over the same period in 2019. Total nights spent by inbound tourists reached nearly 4.4 million, a drop of 71.3% when compared to the same period of last year.

Total tourism expenditure reached €392.8 million, 77.6% less than that recorded during the same period in 2019.

Total expenditure per capita stood at €673, a decrease of 18.1% when compared to the same period in 2019.