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30.01.2020 3 NEWS FROM PAGE 1 e aim of the expansion is to deliver a 5-star airport, with increased oper- ational and commercial areas and the introduction of a more consistent "sense of place" which connected the airport's look with Malta and its heritage, Borg said. "I want MIA to look like an airport in Malta, not just any other airport," Borg said. e expansion will lead to the airport entrance being pushed further forward, with the addition of terraces and a food and beverage area. e check-in area wil be expanded by over 2,000 sq.m. and check-in desks will increase by 25 to a to- tal of 61. "is will add experience value through quicker check-in times," Borg highlighted. Immigration control will be shifted from Level 1 to a lower level, increas- ing the available space significantly for arrivals and allowing for more luggage reclaim belts. Each departure gate will grow in size, with a four-fold increase in space for seats and queues, Borg said. e number of gates will rise to 21 from the current 11. e security area will see its lanes in- creased from six to 10. Spirit of the Maltese islands e design of the expanded terminal is envisaged to be such that it captures the spirit of the Maltese islands particularly through the use of traditional patterns and materials, colours that are evocative of the sea and clear skies, and a play of light so as to bring to the building the warmth that Malta and its people are known for. With sustainability being an important value for the company, energy-efficiency and water consumption considerations will constitute another pillar of the ex- pansion project. Smart technologies including a new building management system to allow for energy and water management opti- misation and better insulation are among the improvements that will contribute to the development of an energy-efficient building, which will play an important role in the company's journey towards the achievement of carbon neutrality. SkyParks 2 designs to be finalised in 2020 Borg said that detailed designs for the planned SkyParks 2 complex are expect- ed to be finalised this year. He said that a team of architects to un- dertake the project had been engaged and that a tender for an operator of the hotel, which will be located within the complex, was issued earliert his week. Moreover, the fuel station will this year be relocated from its current location to another area within the airport campus. MIA was also working with a firm for the development of a 46,000 sq.m. area to address the current bottleneck in air- craft parking space, Borg said. A firms was currently workng on the design, specificatins and bill of quan- tities for this project, with the aim to start work later in 2020, he said, add- ing that this would entail the largest investment since the privatisation of the airport. Airport passenger movement up 7.4% Borg also used the opportunity to pres- ent the airport traffic results for 2019, which show that passenger movement rose by 7.4% - or 500,000 movements - last year compared to 2018. Amongst the reasons for this were the addition of 20 new destinations to MIA's network and Ryan Air's basing of a sixth aircraft in Malta, Borg noted. He said that, while 2019 had started slow for the airport, things had picked up once the summer schedule began in April. e last three months of 2019 were particularly strong, he said, par- ticularly December, which saw a 15.2% increase in passenger movement com- pared to the previous year. e UK remained Malta's top market, growing by 2.2%. is, Borg said, hap- pened despite the events surrounding Brexit and showed the market's resilience. Italy (3.4% growth), Germany (9%), France (10.8%) and Spain (17.3%) were the next biggest markets respectively af- ter the UK. Overall, Borg said, the picture was very positive for 2019 across the different markets. Malta airport set to double in size with €100 million terminal expansion • e project will deliver a 5-star airport to the Maltese islands through several improvements • e Terminal Expansion Project will double building's current footprint • Traffic through MLA is forecast to increase by 2–3% to reach 7.5 million passenger movements in 2020

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