Malta International Airport p l c : Full-year Traffic Results 2020

COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT

Malta International Airport plc (the "Company")

Full Year 2020 Traffic Results

Date of Announcement	20 January 2021
Reference	341/2021
In terms of Chapter 5 of the Listing Rules

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A LOOK AT 2020

Malta International Airport ended what was initially set to be another year of traffic growth with 1,748,050 passenger movements, translating in a drop of 76.1 per cent over 2019.

This is the lowest traffic result to be reported by Malta International Airport plc since the company assumed management of the air terminal in 2002, when full-year traffic amounted to 2.6 million passenger movements.

Standing at just 10 per cent of what was reported in December 2019, traffic for the last month of the year - which brought a decade of growth at Malta International Airport to an end - amounted to 46,475 passenger movements.

Data made available by Airports Council International (ACI) shows that European airports in general suffered the same plight last year, with this airport group registering an overall contraction in passenger traffic of 79.6 per cent and reporting the cumulative loss of over 6,000 routes.

RECOVERY AND THE WAY AHEAD

Several international industry organisations are predicting that, following an extremely rocky first quarter of 2021, the tourism industry may expect to start seeing signs of recovery with the onset of the summer season.

"In order for this prediction to materialise it is imperative that, over the next weeks, measures aimed at boosting consumer confidence take centre stage. A faster vaccine roll-out should be complemented by the establishment of much-needed uniform testing regimes and travel requirements at a European level," said Malta International Airport CEO Alan Borg, whilst highlighting that failure to act quickly in this regard could result in another lost summer with catastrophic implications for the tourism industry and the wider economy.

Mr Borg welcomed the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) recent appeal to key EU policymakers to agree on a common digital European Covid-19 vaccination certificate, which would constitute a huge stride towards the safe reopening of borders without the need for testing and quarantines. Mr Borg said that this critical time should be used to put in place the technology required to scan such certificates and make the entry into the country as seamless as possible.

Despite the current uncertainty and shorter-term planning, Malta International Airport and the Malta Tourism Authority have remained in active discussions with partner airlines to work on rebuilding Malta's connectivity. Stakeholder collaboration in this regard is essential for the Maltese islands to be able to enjoy connections with Europe and beyond offered by a mix of low-cost and flag carriers.

MITIGATION MEASURES AND GUIDANCE

Given that the first quarter of 2021 is expected to be as challenging as 2020, Malta International Airport remains committed to work actively towards the preservation of the company's liquidity through any cost-cutting measures deemed necessary.

The company's Board of Directors is scheduled to meet on the 24th of February 2021 to conduct an assessment of the current situation, which continues to evolve.

During this meeting, the Board of Directors will be approving the company's financial statements for the year ended on the 31st December 2020 and discussing other items on the agenda, including shareholder dividend.

While Malta International Airport generally publishes a forecast for the year ahead in January, given the fluidity of the current situation and limited visibility of the way ahead, the company does not have sufficient data to provide the market with reliable guidance at this time.

UNQUOTE

Signed:

Louis de Gabriele

Company Secretary

About Malta International Airport

Being Malta's only air terminal, the airport hosted more than 7 million passengers in 2019, of which the majority were inbound tourists. 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.

Malta International Airport recently opened its new multi-storey car park - Park East - which has brought the number of parking spaces available on the airport campus up to around 2,700 spaces. Additionally, 14,000m² of office and retail space are housed within SkyParks Business Centre, with projects in the offing set to bring about further expansion in this regard.

The airport team is guided by a vision of service excellence, which led MIA to clinch the title Best Airport in Europe in 2018 and 2019. In November 2020, Malta International Airport won two prestigious titles awarded by ACI: Best Airport and HR Excellence, both in the context of Covid-19.

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%).