Malta International Airport Plc

Regulatory Filings • Jan 18, 2022

COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT

Malta International Airport plc (the "Company")

2021 Traffic Results and Appointment of New Head

Date of Announcement 18 January 2022 Reference 359/2022 In terms of Chapter 5 of the Listing Rules

QUOTE

2,540,335 passengers travelled through Malta International Airport last year. While this full-year traffic result translates into an increase of 45.3 per cent over 2020 figures, it marks a recovery of just 34.8 per cent of 2019 passenger numbers.

The top drivers of traffic for the year were Italy and the United Kingdom, both of which enjoyed a 19 per cent market share, followed by Germany, France and Poland.

A look at Malta International Airport's monthly traffic performance shows that after the first half of the year, air travel started to gain momentum on the back of increased stability and an improvement in consumer confidence, with passenger movements for the third quarter of 2021 more than tripling over the previous quarter.

October, which saw Southern European airports register improved passenger traffic results, was Malta International Airport's best-performing month with more than 428,000 passenger movements recorded. This can be attributed to a delayed peak in the demand for leisure travel spurred by the easing of travel requirements as the year progressed, up until the emergence of a new virus strain in November 2021.

"The instant impact on air travel of the introduction of tighter restrictions towards the end of the year, once again highlighted that our industry's recovery remains at the mercy of how governments respond to the changing epidemiological situation. 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.

Mr Borg noted that summer 2022 is expected to be characterised by fiercer competition among similar destinations, particularly as vaccination uptake across Europe continues to increase.

While recognising the local authorities' efforts in putting Malta in the lead in relation to vaccination coverage, Mr Borg urged government to now shift its focus on publishing a post-COVID strategy, which would give the industry confidence to invest in businesses, thus contributing to an enhanced tourism offering and increasing the island's competitive edge. On the other hand, by aligning Malta's entry requirements to EU regulations, government would be instilling confidence in travellers to book their next trip.

Data released by Airports Council International shows that at 33.5 per cent, Malta's recovery for the period between January and November 2021 still lagged behind that of Southern European peers such as Greece (52.5 per cent), Cyprus (44.3 per cent), Spain (41.7 per cent), and Portugal (40.3 per cent), despite Malta International Airport's success in retaining more than 70 per cent of its connections for 2019 throughout the year under review.

GUIDANCE

Given the challenges that persist in the first quarter of 2022 and the instability within which the aviation industry continues to operate, Malta International Airport plc does not have sufficient data to provide the market with reliable guidance at this time.

Malta International Airport plc's Board of Directors is scheduled to meet on 22 February 2022 to approve the company's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021.

APPOINTMENT OF NEW HEAD

Malta International Airport would also like to announce the appointment of Mr Robert Mizzi as Head of Aerdrome Safety and Compliance. Prior to this appointment, Mr Mizzi led the same department in the position of manager for three years.

Having joined Malta International Airport in 1999, Mr Mizzi has garnered extensive knowledge and experience in relation to the aerodrome. Additionally, Mr Mizzi holds an MSc in Passenger Transport Management awarded by the Aston University in Birmingham and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the United Kingdom.

Through Mr Mizzi's appointment, Malta International Airport seeks to continue to deliver upon its promise to guests of maintaining a safe airport environment at all times.

UNQUOTE

Signed: Louis de Gabriele

Company Secretary

About Malta International Airport

Malta International Airport connects the Maltese archipelago to over 100 destinations in more than 30 countries. The Company has consistently invested in the terminal since the airport's privatisation in 2002, with the Terminal Reconfiguration Project bringing about the most recent overhaul. The airport campus itself has grown to provide over 1,500 parking spaces, and 14,000m² of office and retail space housed within SkyParks Business Centre, with projects in the offing, such as the Terminal Expansion Project, set to bring about further expansion. The airport team is guided by a vision of service excellence, which led MIA to clinch the title Best Airport in Europe for two consecutive years. To maximise its contribution to Malta's cultural heritage and environment, MIA set up the Malta Airport Foundation in 2014: an independently run non-profit organisation.

Malta International Airport plc is a public company listed on the Malta Stock Exchange, with its shareholders being the Malta Mediterranean Link Consortium (40%), with Flughafen Wien AG owning a 96% share, the Government of Malta (20%), the general public (29.9%), and VIE Malta Limited (10.1%).