Increase in seat capacity drives record passenger numbers at MIA

Passenger movements at Malta International Airport grew by 8.9% during the month of April reaching 331,369, i.e. the highest number ever registered in April. This was brought about by an increase of 10.7% in the seat capacity for the month, which reached 440,430.

The average seat load factor registered a slight decrease of 1.3 percentage points when compared to April 2012, reaching 75.2%, whilst aircraft movements for the month were 9.4% more than those in the corresponding period last year. The Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) was 9.9% higher, whilst cargo and mail registered a decrease of 5.7% on that registered during the same month in 2012.

The UK, Italian and Spanish markets all registered increases in April, with 3.6%, 13.8%, and 0.8% respectively, whereas the German market registered a decrease of 3.2% and the French market decreased negligibly by 0.7%.

January - April 2013

Between January and April, passenger movements increased by 8.7%, with aircraft movements registering an increase of 4.2% over the same first four months of 2012. The seat capacity increased by 6.3% whereas the average seat load factor increased by 1.7 percentage points over the same period in 2012. In the same period, the MTOW increased by 5.3% whereas Cargo and Mail was more or less the same with a decrease of 0.1% over the same period of 2012.

The Malta Airport results contrast with the latest figures available from Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. Whilst Malta Airport registered an 8.6% growth for the first Quarter of 2013, European airports saw a 0% growth whereas EU airports registered a decrease of 2.1%.