February 8 sees the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of the terminal at Malta International Airport.
On February 9, 1992, 140 passengers arrived at Malta International Airport on board a direct flight from Moscow. They were the first to be welcomed at the new terminal building, just a day after its inauguration. In the three decades since, millions of passengers – 75 million since the airport’s privatisation in 2002 – have walked through its doors.
The building, which was constructed over two years with an investment of around 12 million Maltese Lira (€28m), was designed to cater for future traffic growth, with the aim of eventually handling 2.5 million passengers annually.
The terminal’s evolution, particularly through an investment of more than €30m in two extensions together with a more recent €12m reconfiguration, allowed Malta International Airport to welcome almost three times as many passengers as originally planned in 2019 alone. The airport ended the year with a record 7.3 million passengers, 2.8 million of whom were tourists, before the COVID-19 pandemic slashed this number in 2020.
“Despite the uncertainty that continues to surround our industry, we feel that this anniversary provides us with an opportunity to revisit – together with the public – the people, the moments, the investments and the challenges that turned the past 30 years into a remarkable journey. We also hope to get people excited about what lies ahead for the airport and air travel, as we re-affirm our commitment to recover from the blows of COVID-19 and continue to focus on making our airport one of the best in Europe,” said Malta International Airport CEO Alan Borg.
In 2022, the terminal will get a completely revamped Food Court with space for a much wider food offering. The Food Court on Level -1 was originally introduced inside the terminal in 2009, when an extension had brought about major improvements to the facilities and given the airport façade the iconic look it still has today. Another project that is set to transform part of the terminal building over the coming months is the expansion of the Customs Area.
Also in the pipeline are the development of Apron X and the construction of SkyParks 2 business centre.
Image courtesy of Malta International Airport/ Rene Rossignaud
