Malta only EU state to register air transport drop

Malta is the only EU member state that registered a drop in air traffic passengers during 2005, according to data released in Brussels.

According to Eurostat, the 25 EU member states increased air passengers by an average of 8.5 per cent when compared to 2004, with the only exception being Malta.

Ironically, the largest increases were registered in the new EU member states with Latvia posting the highest growth at 77 per cent in just one year.

Other significant increases were registered in Slovakia, 46 per cent, and Lithuania, 44 per cent.

The figures include statistics related to internal flights, which are not of very significant relevance in Malta's case.

However, it is in this sector that the island suffered most during 2005 when the number of passengers travelling between the two islands by helicopter dipped by 78 per cent to just 8,000 passengers. On the other hand, the number of passengers travelling by air between Malta and the other 24 EU member states remained unchanged.

The number of passengers travelling between Malta and non-EU countries slipped slightly by 0.8 per cent and amounted to 305,000.

Eurostat said Malta's biggest market for air transport in 2005 remained the UK with more than 1.1 million travelling between the two islands. Germany, Italy and France follow.

In 2005, Malta International Airport ranked as the 78th busiest airport in the EU.

The top ranked airport in terms of passenger numbers remained London/Heathrow with about 68 million, representing about six per cent of the total EU 25 air passenger transport. Paris/Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt/Main maintained the second and third places.

Six country-to-country flows within the EU 25 recorded over 10 million passengers in 2005. The largest were Spain-UK with about 35 million and Germany-Spain with 21 million.

In the case of airport-to-airport flows, Madrid/Barajas-Barcelona is the largest within the EU 25 (4.3 million) and London/Heathrow-New York/JFK International is the main one in terms of air transport outside the EU 25 (2.9 million).