The pandemic has halted countless travel plans over the past two years, as airports around the world witnessed dwindling passenger numbers.

Of course, the Malta International Airport (MIA) was no exemption – although 2021 did bring some encouraging news…

Turns out that MIA saw a 45.3% increase in passenger traffic in 2021, when compared to 2020 figures. These numbers translate to 34.8% of 2019’s passenger traffic, meaning that there is still plenty of room for improvement.

The top drivers of traffic for 2021 were Italy and the United Kingdom, followed closely by Germany, France, and Poland.

October was Malta and many other Southern European countries’ best month for air travel. That month, MIA registered over 428,000 passengers.

The airport attributed this to the easing of travel restrictions and increased consumer confidence in the health safety of airports.

The emergence of the Omicron variant brought this progress to a rapid halt, as countries all over Europe re-introduced heavy travel measures.

“The introduction of stricter and uneven entry requirements across Europe at the end of 2021 has already led to the cancellation of around 850 flights for the first quarter of 2022,” said Malta International Airport CEO, Mr Alan Borg.

MIA is in fact expecting the summer of 2022 to be characterised by fierce competition as vaccination uptake across Europe continues to increase.

Do you plan on travelling this year?