This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Malta


Chief executive Julian Jaeger.


GATEWAY GROWTH


Malta International Airport (MIA) has won a number of accolades in recent years, but chief among these must surely be the title of best airport in the one to fi ve million passenger category – from Airports Council International (ACI) Europe in June. For MIA, the honour is public recognition, not only of the work it has done in recent years to grow its source markets and passenger numbers, but also of its far-reaching, multi-million euro development programme, which, by its conclusion, will have completely transformed the airport.


Early features of the programme that have already come to fruition include a €5.2 million expansion project and terminal refurbishment that began in 2008 and has seen – among other facets – the overhaul of approximately 2,000sqm of land and airside food and beverage space, the creation of a new 970sqm walk-through duty-free store, and the refurbishment of the VIP lounge.


Other work includes a €7 million, partially EU-funded taxiway upgrade scheme that concluded in 2009, and the installation of a solar energy farm which, at the time of writing, was scheduled to be operational by November this year and is expected to help reduce MIA’s carbon footprint by approximately 145,000kg of CO2


per annum.


In a bid to diversify, the airport is in the process of constructing a new €16 million SkyParks Business Centre as well – timetabled for launch in the second half of 2011 – which will incorporate 14,000sqm of offi ce space, retail units and food and beverage facilities, 3,100sqm of which will be occupied by recently-announced anchor tenant Vodafone Malta.


These developments demonstrate MIA’s commitment to innovation, improvement and the growth of non-aviation revenue. As chief executive, Julian Jaeger, puts it: “Although we saw a 6% decrease in passenger movements in 2009, we managed to grow revenue from our retail and property segment by 23% last year. We’re optimistic about the future. Cautious, yes, but optimistic.”


Gauci says. “Our statistics show that tourist fi gures correlate closely with the number of airline seats available to and from Malta. Because of this, one of our major responsibilities has been to ensure we have the right level of accessibility. “Charter traffi c continues to be important as tour operators still bring in around 45% of all tourists,” he adds. “Our legacy carriers are also vital. The biggest of these, Air Malta, still carries


www.routesonline.com


60% of arrivals. However, we have seen a global increase in the number of direct, independent travellers, too – many of whom prefer to travel with low-cost carriers. As a result, we have been encouraging airlines like Ryanair and easyJet to develop new routes to Malta – particularly from airports that aren’t already served by the legacy carriers – and have [enjoyed] success in that we’re now connected to


76 airports. By way of comparison, if we look back at 2007, Malta was linked to just 50 airports.”


The increase in source markets was arguably a saving grace during the recession. Approximately a quarter of Malta’s economy is dependent on tourism, and the impact would have been more keenly felt if the airport and tourism authority hadn’t already diversifi ed into the low-cost market. As it was, Malta experienced only a 6% decrease in passenger numbers in 2009, which – to put it in context – was set against a record year in 2008. “2007 and 2008 were excellent years in terms of passenger numbers, with 2007 providing a 10% increase on the previous year and 2008 showing additional growth of 4.6%,” explains MIA’s chief executive Julian Jaeger. “We were already feeling the fi nancial crisis in the second half of 2008, and in 2009 we [witnessed] our lowest average load factor in 10 years. But we’re bouncing back; 2010 has been very good so far. By the end of September, we had already seen an increase of 12%.”


Ryanair effect According to Jaeger, one of the main reasons for this impressive uplift – so soon after the end of the global downturn – was Ryanair’s decision in the fi rst half of the year to create its 41st aircraft base in Malta and to increase its traffi c into the country by 47%. The six new routes introduced by the airline at the time included Bologna, Seville and Marseilles. The carrier is planning to launch an additional service to Birmingham this December. In total, MIA has seen the


establishment of 17 new routes this year – and not just in the low-cost carrier


33


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84