Passenger traffic at Malta International Airport in February totalled 359,395 passenger movements, a 2.9% growth over the same month last year.

The airport said the growth was registered alongside an increase of 8.9% in aircraft movements and an improvement of 6.4% in seat capacity. Measuring the occupancy of seats available on flights operated from Malta Airport, seat load factor for February stood at 75.9%.

Last month, the United Kingdom moved back to the top of the list of Malta International Airport’s main drivers of passenger traffic, after having dropped a place in January.

The UK market was followed by Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, which were cumulatively responsible for more than 60% of all passenger movements recorded in February.

While the top three markets all registered a decrease in passengers raging between -0.8 and -5.5%, France and Spain continued the growth trend observed at the beginning of the year.

France posted growth of 15.6%, partly stemming from developments such as the operation of the Bordeaux and Paris Beauvais routes during the winter season for the first time and better flight frequencies on the Paris Charles de Gaulle route.

On the other hand, a spike of 75.4% was observed with regard to passenger movements from Spain, resulting from improved connections with this market throughout the winter season.