The Malta International Airport doesn’t expect to begin making a recovery by the second half of 2021, pending the imminent authorisation and distribution of a novel COVID-19 vaccine. 

“The availability of an authorised vaccine is one of the factors which, we believe, will significantly boost consumer confidence in travel and support our recovery, which we expect to commence in the second half of 2021,” a spokesperson from the airport told Lovin Malta.

Malta’s tourism industry took a massive hit over the summer with a public health emergency forcing ports to close for months as a preventive measure to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Over the summer, the airport registered an 80.9% drop in traffic when compared to last year and one of the world’s biggest airlines, Emirates, even discontinued its daily operations to the country – although the reasons behind this move are still unclear.

“We welcome recent news indicating that the pharmaceutical industry is edging closer to the development of a viable vaccine,” the airport spokesperson said.

The race for a potential COVID-19 vaccine has made bounds and leaps over the past few weeks following news that several pharmaceutical giants have developed vaccines with effectiveness above 90%.

It is expected that a vaccine will be on the market by the first quarter of 2021 with Malta having secured 330,000 doses so far. 

Earlier today, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said that it won’t be mandatory for people travelling in and out of Malta to be vaccinated, citing that the country has a high vaccine uptake rate and many people will take it willingly. 

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