The Malta International Airport on Monday launched its flight schedule for the upcoming autumn-winter season, featuring 109 direct connections to destinations across Europe and the Middle East. 

The schedule includes the commencement of thrice-weekly operations to Dublin by a new airline for the airport Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus, and the extension of Eurowings’ Dusseldorf route into winter. 

In a statement MIA said the launch of the schedule comes on the back of another strong month for the airport, as passenger traffic continued to exhibit an upward trend in September to total 896,471 arrivals and departures, increasing by 10.4 per cent over 2023.

Travel peaked early in the month, with the busiest day falling on September 1, when the MIA handled more than 33,000 passengers.

While seat capacity deployed by airlines climbed 9.1 per cent over the preceding year, the seat load factor stood at an all-time high for September at 90.2 per cent, reflecting strong occupancy rates on flights to and from Malta.

With a market share of over 23 per cent, Italy continued to top the market, with the UK, Germany, France, and Poland following suit.

While four out of the five top-performing markets for September outperformed their respective 2023 results, France was the only market to fall just 2.9 per cent short of reaching last year’s levels, due to aircraft operating with fewer seats and a minimal drop in SLF. 

The new schedule can be accessed here.

In its statement the MIA said it had become the second European airport and the fifth airport worldwide to be awarded level four of Airports Council International’s Customer Experience Accreditation Programme.

The programme is tailored to evaluate how airports manage the overall guest experience, focusing on enhancing customer understanding, analysing feedback, fostering a customer-centric culture, and driving service innovation.