Malta International Airport yesterday reported 307,292 passenger movements for May, which represents a 19.3 per cent increase over the same month last year.

Passenger movements for the first five months of this year amounted to 1,049,580, an increase of 7.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. MIA said this positive result was mainly due to the increased capacity of seats and accessibility enhanced by additional routes and the seat load factor.

Flight movements for May increased by 13.8 per cent over May 2009 and the seat load factor registered a 2.8 percentage point difference. The maximum take-off weight has risen by 13.2 per cent, while cargo increased by 16.9 per cent when compared to the same period in 2009.

"This performance comes as a welcome boost of traffic figures after a rather dismal April which was marred by the Icelandic eruptions that affected the European airspace," an MIA statement said.

The core markets all registered significant increases in May with Spain leading with a 134 per cent over the same month last year. On the other hand Rome's Fiumicino airport ranked highest as a top destination in contrast to the British airport destinations that expectedly decreased as a consequence of the volcanic ash cloud.