Passenger movements during the month of January dropped by 11.8 per cent when compared to the same month in 2008, the Malta International Airport said.

The MIA said that with a total of 138,010 movements handled, the shortfall was of 18,430 passenger movements on the scheduled and non-scheduled flights.

Aircraft movements also dropped by 10.4 per cent for a total of 1,694. The seat capacity in January showed a minus 25,148 (-9.5 per cent) whilst the seat load factor also dropped by -1.5 per cent.

Cargo and mail handled at MIA during the month of January was 1,313 tonnes that is a decrease of 14.6 per cent over last year.

The loss in passengers from the UK market was once again felt during the month of January with a decrease of 7,806 passenger movements (-13.4 per cent). MIA again experienced a downturn of the Italian and French markets, which resulted in a minus -11.5 per cent and -4.5 per cent respectively, likewise the German market decreased by 9.5 per cent.

However Frankfurt and Rome Fiumicino airports registered an increase of 13.2 per cent and 18.4 per cent passenger movements to MIA when compared to January 2008 and Libyan Arab traffic increased by 17.2 per cent.