Passenger numbers at Malta International Airport were this autumn comparable to those typically experienced in the early summer months, the airport said.

It said passenger movements this October showed the greatest increase of any month this year so far, with a 10.2 per cent growth over October last year.

The airport also welcomed its four millionth passenger. In total, 464,557 passengers passed through the airport, representing a net gain of 42,834, over October last year. The rise in traffic moved in line with seat capacity growth of 11.4 per cent last month.

With the exception of Germany, which saw a dip of 7.3 per cent, all of the airport’s top 10 performing countries last month exceeded their passenger numbers over the previous year.

France demonstrated a modest increase of 1.4 per cent, while Turkey shot ahead, almost doubling its numbers from 6,705 to 12,949 passengers this October.

Additional flights to The Netherlands also led passenger figures to grow by an impressive 40.4 per cent. Other high-performing countries include Austria and Sweden which increased by 20.8 per cent and 29 per cent, as well as Switzerland which saw a 29 per cent boost due to the entry of a new carrier into the Swiss market.

The top two destinations remained the UK and Italy which grew by 9.6 per cent and 10.1 per cent respectively and constituted a combined total of 18,626 additional passengers last month.

Cargo increased by 3.6 per cent which constituted an additional 52 tonnes. This was the equivalent of 2,300 filled suitcases in additional cargo when compared to the figures registered last year.