Malta airport's passenger movements up 45 pct in 2021-Xinhua

Malta airport's passenger movements up 45 pct in 2021

Source: Xinhua| 2022-01-18 23:19:32|Editor: huaxia

VALLETTA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Malta International Airport saw a 45 percent increase in passenger movements in 2021 compared to 2020, but still far off the pre-pandemic levels, a senior management said on Tuesday.

The 2021 passenger movement was only just under 35 percent of those achieved in 2019, before the pandemic broke out, chief executive Alan Borg told a press conference.

Travel picked up in the third quarter of the year, with figures tripling over the second quarter. Borg said that Malta's recovery is still lagging behind that of its peers.

The airport's best-performing month was October, when more than 428,000 passenger movements were registered, a result of the easing of restrictions and a higher demand for leisure travel.

Air travel also saw an immediate downturn due to tighter restrictions at the end of the year, seeing around 850 flights cancellations for the first quarter of 2022, he said.

"Malta was among the top countries for vaccination rates in 2021 which became a selling point in terms of being perceived as a safe destination. However, as more countries increase their vaccination rates, there will be more competition in the coming months," he said.

"The impact of burdensome travel requirements will continue to be felt in 2022," Borg added.

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