Malta International Airport is prepared to reduce tariffs to Air Malta, but it cannot discriminate against other airlines, Julian Jaeger, MIA's outgoing CEO said today.

He was speaking at a press conference where he announced that MIA expects 3.4 million passenger movements this year, a 3.2 per cent increase on last year. 

Mr Jaeger said that low cost airlines in the first six months of the year held 35 per cent of the market share while Air Malta had 48 per cent. The national airline saw an increase of two per cent in its passenger traffic. Ryanair had a 35 per cent increase and EasyJet 32 per cent.

He said MIA, despite the Libyan crisis, had a good first half of the year. Passenger movements increased by 13 per cent - including the evacuations from Libya.

There were a 4.8 per cent drop in cargo and mail traffic. That included a reduction in the export of tuna, and pharmaceutical companies had been seen to shift to cargo ships instead of air freight. The Libya crisis also caused a drop in cargo traffic.

Mr Jaeger insisted that MIA charges are in line with the European average. He confirmed that his company is in talks with the management of Air Malta and, he said, the airport was in a position to reduce the charges, but it could not discriminate between airlines.

"We need Air Malta to have a future," he said, but an airline could not be saved just by cutting its local airport tariffs.

He said Air Malta last year paid €20 million to MIA.

Reacting to a question on whether it had been beneficial for the governemnt to privatise the airport, Mr Jaeger pointed out that MIA was now profitable whereas in the past it was not. The company paid €160 million to the governemnt during the privatisation and had since paid €55m in taxes and dividends on its remaining shares.

The company had also made a contribution of €5 million to the tourism authority and invested in the airport infrastructure.