The Malta International Airport has appealed for the removal of remaining travel restrictions as passenger traffic into the MIA increased sevenfold over the same month in 2021.
The traffic still remains 45.2% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels at 196,000. With traffic figures showing signs of demand-driven recovery in tourism, the MIA CEO Alan Borg has insisted the health authorities remove all remaining restrictions.
Last February’s traffic saw a significant increase of 24% over January, with Borg saying that this double digit growth indicates that the easing of travel restrictions unleashed a demand for air travel.
‘Further indicating that this increase was driven by demand rather than improved capacity, is the drop of 3% in February’s seat capacity compared to January’s’ he said. The seat load factor for February was just 5.1% lower than 2019 levels, standing at 70.7%.
Borg said that traffic results for February clearly indicate that two years into the WHO’s declaration of a pandemic, people are ready to travel.
‘At the same time, our industry is facing a spate of new uncertainties and challenges, such as rising oil prices which re likely to push up fares, which are stemming from the war in Ukraine’ said Borg. The CEO highlighted how summer is just weeks away and thus the health authorities need to remove any remaining restrictions.
This would also give industry stakeholders the confidence to invest in their business and ‘be optimistic for the future at this very delicate time.’
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