Malta International Airport plc announced a record number of 983,182 passengers for the month of August, making it the busiest period on record and representing an 11.9 per cent increase over August 2023.

As demand for summer travel reached fever pitch, passenger volumes increased steadily throughout August with daily passengers peaked on 8th August, with 34,771 travellers arriving and departing on the airport’s busiest day of the month.

Growth in passenger numbers was experienced in parallel with an upturn of 14.3 per cent in aircraft movements and an increase of 12.1 per cent in seat capacity. Seat occupancy on flights also registered strong growth to stand at 91.2 per cent; the highest seat load factor to be recorded in 2024 so far.

Last year, the airport welcomed 7.8 million travellers, marking a growth of 6.7 per cent in passenger traffic over 2019.

Malta International Airport’s top markets remained largely unchanged, with Italy and the United Kingdom topping the leaderboard with a combined market share of almost 45 per cent. Germany, however, overtook France to become the third largest driver of passenger traffic for the month, while Spain regained the fifth spot for the first time since February.

MIA said that it has consistently invested in the airport campus since its privatisation in 2002 to be able to cater for an ever-increasing number of passengers.