Low cost airline Ryanair is contesting Air Malta's claim to be the biggest contributor to growth in Maltese tourism. Ryanair, which on Thursday published figures of inbound passengers for Malta in the first six months of this year, said it increased its passenger numbers by more than 100 per cent in that period, compared to the corresponding period in 2007.

During 2008, Ryanair increased its first half-year figures of inbound passengers from 47,504 (recorded in the first six months of 2007) to 95,917.

"This growth has meant that Ryanair, and not Air Malta, was the biggest contributor to growth in Maltese tourism during the period," Ryanair said.

Ryanair added that in an earlier press release Air Malta claimed to be the biggest contributor with 57 per cent of the 77,000 additional passengers.

"In reality, in its calculation, Air Malta failed to take into account that a number of airlines were flying fewer passengers than previously.

Consequently, Ryanair's growth of 48,413 passengers, for the first half of 2008 over 2007, meant that it was the number one airline for growth in Malta in the first half of 2008," Ryanair remarked.

Ryanair's deputy chief exe-cutive, Michael Cawley, said Ryanair's inbound traffic growth of in excess of 48,000 passengers in the first half of this year represents a record and puts it at the top of the list for growth in inbound tourism.