Malta International Airport just experienced its busiest ever first quarter.

As March came to a close, around 1.25 million passengers passed through MIA within just the first three months of the year.

Of this total, 487,117 passenger movements were registered in March, marking an increase of two per cent over pre-pandemic figures.

This upward trend has been driven by the release of pent-up demand for air travel, which has also been reflected in high seat load factors (SLF) over the past months. Gaining 2.2 per cent over 2019 levels, the SLF for March stood at 83.5 per cent, the airport said.

Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Poland were the most popular markets, accounting for 63 per cent of March traffic.

Out of these top five markets, the United Kingdom and Germany continued to perform below 2019 levels, while the other three markets registered different levels of growth.

A closer look at Germany’s performance shows that, while passenger numbers to and from this market remained below pre-pandemic levels, an improved SLF of 90 per cent helped it overtake France to rank third.

Malta’s connectivity with Germany will be further strengthened this summer through three routes on top of those offered last winter, which are expected to bolster the performance of this market.

If you’d like to check out MIA’s newly launched summer flight schedule, you can be following this link.