Passenger traffic through Malta International Airport registers recovery of 88% in November

Malta International Airport’s (MIA) November traffic amounted to 433,621 passengers. This total translates to a recovery of 87.9 per cent of pre-pandemic traffic, which is the strongest recovery rate Malta International Airport has registered so far.

The number of seats available on flights to and from MIA remained at 19.9 per cent below 2019 levels. On the other hand, the seat load factor (SLF) gained 7.7 percentage points, reaching an all-time high occupancy rate for November of 85.8 per cent.

Performance of top markets

MIA’s top five markets remained unchanged from October, with Italy topping the leaderboard for the ninth consecutive month. In contrast with previous months which had seen Italy register growth over pre-pandemic numbers, in November, the Italian market suffered a drop of 8.2 per cent in passenger numbers which was mainly due to a decrease in seat capacity.

Italy was followed by the United Kingdom and Germany, both of which continued to recover at a slow pace. France and Poland, which ranked fourth and fifth, registered growth of 33.8 per cent and 39.8 per cent respectively compared to 2019 levels.

The Polish market achieved a high seat load factor (SLF) of 91 per cent despite an increase in seat capacity over 2019, and was one of five markets in the top 10 drivers of passenger traffic for November to exceed the 90 per cent mark.

MIA winter schedule

The airport’s winter schedule officially came into effect in November, with one of the highlights for the month being the return of Air Serbia following the airline’s temporary suspension of services at the onset on the pandemic.