Malta International Airport saw a 16.2 per cent surge in passengers in October, the MIA monthly figures, posted last week on the MIA website, show.

The total number of passengers, at just short of 300,000, was an absolute record, at least since 2001.

As has been usual over the past 12 months, ever since the arrival of low cost airlines, traffic to and from Luton with Ryanair amounted to 10.700, placing the airport in the seventh place with a 336 per cent increase over last year.

And Ireland, where Ryanair also flies, contributed with a further 5,400 passengers.