GozoNews.Com

During the month of April, Malta International Airport has once again registered an increase of 6.2% in passenger movements on the scheduled and non-scheduled flights.

The total passenger movements in April 2008 increased by 14,621 for a total of 251,548 movements as opposed to the April 2007 figure of 236,927. The seat capacity decreased marginally by 1.4% but, on the other hand, the seat load factor increased by 5.1% to an average of 70.8%. Aircraft movements decreased from 2,337 in April last year to 2,236 last month. Incoming and outgoing cargo and mail handled at MIA was of 1,565 tonnes, an increase of 13.7% when compared to April 2007.

From the three main markets, Germany registered the highest increase in passenger movements with an additional 14.2%, the UK increased by 5.4% and movements from Italy marginally increased by 0.4%. Once again the Spanish market saw a hefty increase of 7,455 passenger movements when compared to April 2007.

As much as the Easter vacations partly attributed to the hefty increase in March 2008, likewise the comparatively slower growth in April 2008 was in part due to fact that this year, Easter occurred a month earlier than in 2007.

Traffic - January to April 2008

MIA registered an increase of 109,219 passenger movements (+16%) during the first four months of 2008 and an increase of 503 aircraft movements (+7.2%) on its scheduled and non-scheduled traffic. The seat capacity increased by 10.2% whereas the average seat load factor also saw an improvement of over 3%. Cargo and Mail activity increased by 13.4% during the period January-April 2008 for a total of 6,093 tonnes handled.

Passenger movements from the main three markets - the UK, Italy and Germany - increased by 4%, 18.8% and 33.7% respectively between January and April 2008. The busiest day during this period was Saturday 26th April with 11,455 passengers and 96 aircraft handled at MIA.