The island state of Malta is heavily dependent on transportation for its livelihood. Air travel is the dominant mode of passenger transportation to and from Malta, and the principal mode by which tourists arrive. Malta relies on tourism as a major industry, accounting for roughly one-quarter of its Gross Domestic Product. One of the key factors that impacts on air travel and tourism activity in Malta has been the growth of low-cost airline carriers (LCCs) in Europe and expansion of their routes to Malta. Previous research has shown that efforts in 2006 to encourage more LCC routes to Malta led to slightly increased air passenger and tourist traffic in the first year after their introduction. This paper provides a longer-term analysis of LCC impacts on air travel and tourism in Malta, including changing geographic patterns of origins and destinations. Results show that after the introduction of LCC service to Malta and prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, both air transport passenger totals and tourism expenditures increased significantly, more than doubling from 2007 to 2019. The number of air passengers rose from 3 million to 7.3 million and tourist expenditures from Euro 1 billion to Euro 2.2 billion. During the same period, the number and share of passengers using LCCs to and from Malta increased with Ryanair dominating the market. While the principal air traffic markets for Malta continue to be in the UK, Italy, Germany and France, the growth of Ryanair’s service to and from Malta has expanded the geographic profile of Malta’s air routes. The study highlights the role of LCCs in terms of island connectivity and flows. It also sheds light on the potential impact on the ever-increasing tourism sector and how this has changed over the time during which LCC routes developed. The contribution aims to support future policy developments for small island states and destinations both in the fields of air transport, but also tourism and economic development.

Andy Goetz, Maria Attard, Lucy Budd
University of Denver, USA; University of Malta, Malta; De Montfort University, UK

 
ID Abstract: 589