Fewer air passengers

There were 27,427 fewer passenger movements in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year, Malta International Airport said.

The 4.7 per cent drop – which in March reached 7.7 per cent - was attributed to a 10 per cent decline in seat capacity, with last year’s extraordinary influx of passengers due to unrest in Libya further skewing the figures.

MIA said the the figures were in line with its projections for the year. Traffic from the airport’s main market, the UK, remained stable but there were significant drops from the Spanish (38 per cent), Italian (16 per cent) and French (11 per cent) markets.

The bad news was tempered by figures from the German market, with passenger numbers rising by a 21 per cent.

MIA chief executive Markus Klaushofer had warned in January that 2012 was likely to be a difficult year, with the airport predicting 100,000 fewer passengers than in 2011.