June brought the anticipated reopening of tourism, with Malta International Airport welcoming 190,505 passengers by the end of the month, the MIA said in a statement.

This figure marks an improvement over the traffic handled in the previous months, but translates into a drop of 73.6 per cent compared to June 2019.

Last month’s top drivers of passenger traffic were Italy, Germany, France, Poland, and Spain, with the Spanish market making a comeback among Malta International Airport’s five most popular destinations following the resumption of flights to Valencia and Seville in June.

Interestingly, a travel sentiment survey conducted by the European Travel Commission in May 2021 revealed that surveyed Europeans who were planning to travel in summer showed a preference for Southern European destinations including Spain, Italy, France, and Greece.

While the United Kingdom did not appear among the top five drivers of traffic, despite Malta’s greenlisting towards the end of June, it moved up a place from May to rank sixth among the airport’s top markets, the MIA said.