Air Malta yesterday reported traffic growth in October on its scheduled services of +4.4 per cent over October 2008. Considering that October 2008 was also a record traffic month, and 2009 has seen the worst economic recession since the Great Depression of 1929, these figures hint that the airline’s strategy is bearing fruit and is managing to minimise the effects of the international financial crisis, the company said.

“Air Malta is delighted with this achievement”, said Dr Brock Friesen, Chief Officer Commercial of Air Malta. “This is certainly a more positive October than reported by other carriers. Air Malta’s relatively positive performance this year was confirmed today in the latest figures published by the Association of European Airlines (AEA) for January – September 2009. These figures show that during this period Air Malta saw a decrease of 3.9 per cent in passengers compared to the average 7.4 per cent decrease in cross-border Europe traffic registered by the 33 European Airlines members of the Association,” added Dr Friesen.

He said the growth in Air Malta passengers “does not signal that we are out of the tourism recession or that Air Malta’s revenue is also up. Indeed, average fares are lower as Air Malta has priced aggressively especially in France and Germany with a resulting October traffic growth of +15 per cent and +14 per cent respectively in these markets.

In Italy, Air Malta has operated no fewer then seven routes: Milan, Rome, Catania, Reggio Calabria, Bologna, Palermo and Verona. The Italian market maintained last year’s figures despite the international financial situation and slowdown. The airline believes that this market has strong potential for growth. Air Malta is currently finalising its plans so that next summer it will be adding one or two additional northern Italian routes.