An Air Malta passenger travelling from Vienna to Malta on KM513, Helmut Otahal, recently was confirmed the airport’s 18 millionth passenger. He received a surprise reception at the departure gate prior to his flight to Malta from Friedrich Lehr, head of aviation at Vienna International Airport, and Carmen Pace, Air Malta’s country manager for Austria.

Mr Otahal, an Austrian, was greeted with champagne at the departure gate. During a short activity Mr Lehr remarked that Vienna International Airport recorded a substantial growth above the European average. “Between January and November 2007, the number of passengers in Vienna increased by 10.9 per cent compared to the same period last year,” he said. Visibly surprised, Mr Otahal said he was very glad about this unexpected event and added he is an Air Malta frequent flier and works for an Austrian company which recently opened a branch office in Malta.

Ms Pace said that Air Malta was very happy that one of its passengers was chosen by Vienna International Airport to celebrate this milestone. She added that Air Malta was delighted by Vienna route’s successes as more than 35,000 passengers travelled on the airline’s services to Vienna during last year. She added that Air Malta is confident that this route will continue to grow further in coming years.

The Malta-Vienna service was first launched 18 years ago by Air Malta, which today operates three weekly flights in winter and five weekly flights during summer to the Austrian capital. A daily flight to Vienna is also available via Munich, through the code-share agreement between Air Malta and Lufthansa.