Air passengers increase by 7.7% in 2015

In 2015, air passengers in Malta reached 4,620 thousand, marking a 7.7% increase over the previous year. Of this figure, 1,000 were national passengers, 4,188 thousand were intra-EU passengers, while extra-EU nationals accounted for 431 thousand passengers.

This upward trend was seen across the countries of the EU28, with figures for 2015 indicating a year-on-year rise of 4.7 % compared with 2014. In 2015, 918.3 million passengers travelled by air in the European Union when compared to 2014.

In 2015, intra-EU transport represented 45.2% of total air passenger transport in the EU, followed by extra-EU transport, registering 37.2%, while national transport accounted for 17.6%.

While Malta International Airport ranked as 72 busiest airport in the EU, Heathrow (London) remained the EU’s busiest passenger airport in 2015, with 75 million passengers handled, growing slightly by 2.2% when compared with 2014. Charles de Gaulle (Paris) came in second, with 65.7 million passengers, growing by 3.2%. Frankfurt/Main was the third busiest airport within the EU in 2015, reaching 60.9 million passengers, growing by 2.5%.