Busy April sees Malta International Airport register 79% of pre-pandemic passenger traffic levels

Last April brought busier days for Malta International Airport (MIA), as 513,979 passengers travelled through the terminal during the month. This figure marks a recovery of 78.7 per cent of pre-pandemic passenger numbers, which is the strongest monthly recovery MIA registered since the onset of the pandemic.

Reaching 77.8 per cent, the seat load factor (SLF) for the month of April was just 5.6 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels, indicating an encouraging demand for travel.

Several factors, including the launch of the airport’s summer flight schedule which offers better connections together with the easing of Malta’s entry restrictions on 11th April, were important contributors to April’s positive results. 

However, the Easter holidays were possibly the strongest driving factor. During last month’s busiest week, which fell between 18-24th April, MIA welcomed 133,267 passengers, which total is roughly comparable to the traffic handled by the airport in the first month of the year.

The best-performing markets for the month remained unchanged from March, as Italy continued to top the leaderboard with 114,707 passenger movements, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland.

April’s traffic augurs well for the upcoming months, which are expected to bring the release of more pent-up demand for travel; however, recently published data for the first quarter of the year shows that Malta’s recovery still lagged behind that of its Mediterranean competitors.

While Malta has eased many of its travel restrictions in recent weeks, making the island a more attractive destination, survey results published by the European Travel Commission in April 2022 showed that 56 per cent of Europeans who were planning to travel in summer had already chosen their destination.