513,979 passengers travelled through Malta Airport in April, marking a recovery of 78.7 per cent of pre-pandemic passenger numbers, MIA said on Monday.

Seat load factor, at 77.8 per cent, was just 5.6 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels.

"Several factors, including the launch of the airport’s summer flight schedule which offers better connections together with the easing of Malta’s entry restrictions on April 11, were important contributors to April’s positive results. However, the Easter holidays were possibly the strongest driving factor," the airport said.

During the busiest week, between April 18 and 24, Malta International Airport welcomed 133,267 passengers, which was roughly comparable to the traffic handled by the airport in the first month of the year.

The best-performing markets for the month remained unchanged from March, as Italy continued to top the leaderboard with 114,707 passenger movements, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland.

The airport said the coming months are expected to see the release of more pent-up demand for travel.

However, recently published data for the first quarter of the year shows that Malta’s recovery still lagged that of its Mediterranean competitors. While Malta has eased many of its travel restrictions in recent weeks making the island a more attractive destination, survey results published by the European Travel Commission in April 2022 showed that 56% of Europeans who were planning to travel in summer had already chosen their destination.