Malta International Airport has again defended its airport charges after Michael Cawley, deputy CEO of Ryanair, said they were among the most expensive his airline pays.

He told a press conference that the low-cost airline pays €25 per passenger, when the average in the other airports it flies to is €6.

MIA said that airport charges in Malta amount to an average of €19.89 per departing passenger. These charges cover landing fees, aircraft parking fees, passenger service charges and security fees.

"It is important to state that these charges have remained unchanged for the past five years (since March 2006). A simple comparative exercise shows that Malta International Airport is surely not levying the most expensive charges in Europe, with other airports levying higher fees, such as Antalya (Turkey), Munich (Germany), Budapest (Hungary), Birmingham (UK), Orly and Lyon (France) to mention but a few. There are others which have significantly higher charges than those in Malta, like Larnaca (Cyprus) +30% and Athens (Greece) +25%. Contrary to the picture being depicted, Malta Airport is definitively within the European average in so far as its airport charges are concerned."

MIA said that most of the revenue that it receives from these charges go towards maintaining the operations and the infrastructure of the airport.

Over the past eight years it invested €52 million in capital projects.

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