MIA passenger movements down by 6.1% in October

Passenger movements at Malta International Airport dropped by 6.1 % last month when compared to the same month in 2007, with a total of 279,946 passengers handled, down by 18,319 MIA said this afternoon.

Aircraft movements decreased by 8.8% for a total of 2,342.

Cargo and mail handled at MIA during the month of October was 1,503 tonnes, a decrease of 8.4% over last year.

The company said there was a decline of 21,716 passengers (-17.8%) from the UK market. The Italian and French markets shed 10.3% and 1.8% passengers respectively, whilst the German market held its ground and the Spanish market continued to grow with more than double the passengers passing through MIA when compared to October 2007.

Traffic – January to October 2008

Despite the downturn in October, passenger numbers this year since January have increased by 6.2%.

Passenger movements from the UK during these ten months have decreased by 31,518 (3.2%) whilst those from Italy and Germany increased by 19,469 (4.8 %) and 57,530 (15.7%) respectively. The other main markets – France and Spain registered increases of 10.4 % and 177% respectively.