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Malta international airport (MIA) saw its passenger numbers increase by more than 10% last year, when it handled 2.97m people on scheduled and non-scheduled flights.

Addressing a media conference, Julian Jaeger, chief executive of MIA, revealed that aircraft movements rose by a total of 10.7%, with activity increasing in Malta's key markets of the UK, Italy and Germany.

Air Malta remained the largest carrier at the airport in 2007, carrying more than 1.62m passengers, more than half of all the people who passed through MIA last year.

British Airways also appeared in the top ten, with a 5.8% share of traffic, along with Lufthansa (4%) and Emirates (2.3%).

London Gatwick was MIA's top destination in 2007, with more than 10% of traffic from the island's airport, followed by Manchester (8%), Frankfurt (6.4%) and London Heathrow (5.9%).

For the coming year, Mr Jaeger identified five regions that have potential to attract new business to Malta – the Iberian peninsula; France and Switzerland; Germany; eastern European countries such as Hungary and Bulgaria; and Scandinavia.

Passenger movements at Malta are expected to exceed 3.18m in 2008, which would represent an increase of 6.5% on last year.

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