Malta International Airport closed off 2019 with a record 7,310,289 passenger movements. Translating into an increase of 7.4% over 2018, the achievement of this full-year result marks the tenth year of traffic growth for the airport.

This rise in passenger numbers was observed in parallel with a 7.3% increase in seat capacity. Measuring the occupancy of seats available on flights to and from Malta International Airport, seat load factor (SLF) remained unchanged from the previous year to stand at a healthy 81.8%.

This solid full-year performance was partly driven by improved flight schedules for both the winter and the summer months. During the course of 2019, in fact, Malta International Airport welcomed a new airline, inaugurated 18 new routes spanning three continents, and introduced other developments aimed at further enhancing the islands' connectivity, particularly in the off-peak months.

While growth of 7.2% was posted in the winter and shoulder months, the peak summer months saw a marginally higher increase in passenger movements of 7.6%. The fastest-growing months of 2019 were December (+15.2%), April (+10.5%), June (+8.8%), and October (+8.8 per cent), with three of these top performers being winter and shoulder months. On the other hand, the largest contributor to full-year traffic was the month of August, registering just over 823,000 passenger movements.

The top drivers of traffic for the year were the United Kingdom (+2.2%), Italy (+3.4%), Germany (+9.0%), France (+10.8%) and Spain (+17.3%), all of which benefitted from route developments that continued to reinforce their popularity during 2019.

With another successful year having been brought to a close, Malta International Airport will soon be publishing its traffic forecast for 2020.