Passenger volumes at Malta International Airport are forecast to reach a historic milestone in 2024, as the company expects to handle 8 million passengers by the end of the year. The announcement was made during Malta International Airport’s yearly traffic press conference held yesterday, where CEO Alan Borg presented the company’s results for 2023.
Full-year traffic increased by 6.7% over 2019, amounting to a record 7.8 million passengers for 2023. This represents a growth of almost 500,000 passenger movements, which is comparable to the throughput of an average winter month for the airport. In parallel, the airport also outperformed pre-pandemic levels in terms of seat load factor, as each month of the year registered varying degrees of growth over 2019, peaking in August at an all-time high of 91.4%.
“2023 was an unprecedented year for Malta International Airport, with record figures being posted month on month for the first time since 2019. While travel demand has remained resilient throughout the year, we are entering 2024 with cautious optimism, as we expect to see passenger traffic growth level off over the coming months, while continuing to face macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds,”
Malta International Airport CEO Alan Borg
Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Leslie Vella, also commended the company’s performance, stating that the long-standing partnership between Malta Airport and the MTA has been a cornerstone in the achievement of record results for the Maltese tourism industry as a whole. With a momentous 8 million passenger milestone on the horizon, Mr. Vella pledged the authority’s commitment to continue working with the airport to register further sustainable, year-round growth.
During the press conference, Mr. Borg also offered an update on Malta International Airport’s ongoing plans to further expand the airport’s capacity. 2024 promises to be a pivotal year in terms of infrastructural developments as the company concludes the first phases of the westward expansion of the terminal and the construction of Apron X, while commencing works on the VIP Terminal and SkyParks Business Centre 2 developments.
