Malta International Airport is forecasting a three per cent increase in the number of passenger movements this year following a strong summer that brought almost 120,000 additional passengers between April and October.
MIA’s forecast contrasts sharply with the outlook at the beginning of the year, when it was even forecasting a possible decline in passenger movements. In July, the growth figure was revised to 1.5 per cent.
But efforts to fill up aircraft coming to Malta paid off when 3.7 per cent additional passengers passed through the airport between April and October, in comparison to the same period last year.
Addressing a press conference, MIA chief commercial officer Alan Borg said the airport had achieved an October record of 348,711 passenger movements. Last month’s increase was 0.6 per cent higher than that of October 2011, while seat capacity for the same month was 1.2 per cent more than last year.
The German market had a significant decrease of 26.7 per cent between April and October, whereas the Spanish market registered a 7.3 per cent drop. On the other hand, there were more visits from Italy, the UK and France.
The results for the first 10 months of the year show an increase of 3.7 per cent when compared with the same period last year, totalling 3.2 million passenger movements.
Mr Borg said MIA believed it would reach 3.6 million passenger movements by the end of 2012.
CEO Markus Klaushofer referred to the crucial importance of the shoulder months as the area for potential growth and expanded on MIA’s marketing initiatives. “For the second year running, this winter schedule we are waiving all landing fees on all scheduled passenger traffic to continue incentivising airlines to keep their operation to and from Malta all year round,” he said.
In welcoming the results, Tourism Minister Mario de Marco said the increase was achieved following a concerted effort by all stakeholders.
He said the past winter was not easy for the country since it saw a reduction in seat capacity. However, this was countered with efforts to achieve higher load factors – bringing more passengers on fewer flights. This resulted in a drop of 20 per cent rather than the anticipated 45 per cent.
“Higher load factors are essential for a viable airline industry,” he said.
He said tourism efforts were now marketing Malta in a different way to target four-day travellers, especially in the shoulder months.
“We are focusing on our distinct product by marketing the Grand Harbour area, including the Three Cities and Valletta. The 2018 European Capital of Culture will give the country a lot of visibility, but work has to start now.”
Dr de Marco said the tourism authority was receiving applications for so-called boutique hotels in areas not usually associated with tourism, such as Naxxar, Cospicua, Senglea and Valletta.