Malta International Airport holds its 29th Annual General Meeting

Added: 5 May 2021

• A decade of solid results equipped Malta Airport with resilience to withstand the shocks of the crisis;
• 2021 off to a slow start with year-to-date traffic totalling 137,887 passenger movements;
• Strategic investments & restoring the island’s connectivity will be prioritised as the company focuses on its recovery

Malta International Airport today held its twenty-ninth Annual General Meeting remotely, during which the company’s performance for the year ended 31 December 2020 as well as year-to-date traffic results were presented.

In his opening address, Malta International Airport Chairman Mr Nikolaus Gretzmacher said that while nothing could have fully prepared the company for the unforeseen events of 2020, a decade of solid financial and traffic results had equipped Malta International Airport with resilience to withstand the shocks of a crisis that brought the global aviation industry to its knees.

Mr Gretzmacher went on to note that the huge impact of the pandemic on the company’s aviation and non-aviation activities had led revenue generated during the year under review to shrink by a staggering €68 million compared to 2019. However, the timely implementation of a cost-cutting and liquidity preservation programme had enabled Malta International Airport to soften the financial blow of the crisis and close the year with a net loss of €4.3 million.

Taking the floor after the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer Mr Alan Borg gave a more in-depth review of the company’s financial performance during 2020, following which the focus shifted to 2021. Between January and April 2021, Malta International Airport welcomed merely 137,887 passengers, signalling a drop of 92.6% over the same comparable period in 2019.

“2021 has been off to a challenging and slow start, but we are confident that the second half of the year will be better. Malta’s strong vaccination drive is positioning the island as a safe leisure destination with both prospective travellers and airlines. In fact, this summer, we expect almost 20 carriers – three of them being newcomers – to connect Malta International Airport to more than 90 airports,” said Mr Borg, whilst highlighting that the success of airport’s summer schedule is highly dependent on the easing or removal of existing travel restrictions.

Mr Borg also welcomed the European Commission’s recent proposal to ease restrictions on non-essential travel from outside the European Union as another important step, in addition to ongoing trialogue negotiations on the Digital Green Certificate, towards the boosting of consumer confidence in air travel and the revival of the industry.

During the Annual General Meeting, it was revealed that, looking ahead, the company will continue to prioritise strategic investments whose immediate return can support Malta International Airport’s short to medium-term recovery. The company’s commitment to continue working closely with government and partner airlines on restoring the island’s connectivity in a sustainable manner was also underscored as a priority in Malta International Airport’s recovery journey.