Summer continues to prove busy for Malta International Airport, with traffic for June increasing by 14.6 per cent to reach 663,088 passenger movements, and an average of 156 daily take-offs and landings, MIA said in a statement.

Growth in passenger numbers was observed in parallel with a 15.1 per cent increase in aircraft movements and a 14.4 per cent increase in seat capacity. Despite this significant growth in the number of seats available, seat load factor (SLF) remained at 82.7 per cent.

Double-digit growth was recorded for four out of the top five markets: United Kingdom (+14.6%), Italy (+18.9%), France (+17.8%) and Spain (+49.1%). Germany was the only country amongst Malta Airport’s top five markets to register a decrease (-3.0%) during the month of June. This was due to a reduced schedule by TUI cruises, affecting the cruise and fly passenger traffic throughput.

Passenger movements to and from the Spanish market increased substantially following the introduction of three completely new routes to Malaga, Seville and Bilbao, and an enhanced flight frequency on the Barcelona route as part of the airport’s summer schedule.