The winter season is off to a strong start at Malta International Airport, with November traffic reaching 453,563 passengers movements and registering an increase of 11.8% over the same month last year, MIA said in a statement.

Passenger movement peaked on the 4th of November, which was the same day year-to-date traffic through Malta International Airport hit the 6 million passenger mark, surpassing the record-breaking 6,014,548 passenger movements recorded between January and December last year.

This growth in passenger numbers was driven mainly by the launch of a robust winter schedule, featuring an increased frequency of flights to several popular destinations, together with the extension of 12 summer routes into the winter season. Aircraft movements rose by 10.4% to 3,357 take-offs and landings in November 2018, while seat capacity grew by 11.5%, when compared to 2017. On average almost 4 out of every 5 seats on board were occupied, bringing November’s seat load factor (SLF) up to 79.2%.

With the United Kingdom holding on to the top spot, closely followed by Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, Malta International Airport’s top five markets remained unchanged. Four out of these five markets registered significant growth during November, ranging from 7.4% in the case of the United Kingdom to 66.5% in the case of Spain. The significant growth registered by the Spanish market is attributed to the extension of the Seville, Valencia and Malaga routes introduced in summer into the winter season, as well as the increased frequency of direct flights to Barcelona.

Germany was the only market among the airport’s top five to register a 0.8% decline in passenger movements. These results not only reflect a successful start to winter season for Malta International Airport, but also put the airport on the path to closing the year with another traffic record, MIA said.