Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/723651
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA MIA hits passenger record in August THE unparalleled figures for Au- gust's passenger movements have topped all traffic records previ- ously established by the Malta International Airport, register- ing 598,515 movements. "This figure translates into a growth of 2.3% over last year, in- dicating that the airport was bus- tling with an average of 19,300 passengers a day," MIA said in a statement. The airport said that it had initially projected its busiest day to have an estimated 22,500 passengers. However, the actual figures show that it marginally surpassed this figure and hosted 22,908 passengers, while still maintaining smooth operations. MIA added that August's num- bers can be attributed to an in- crease in seat capacity, together with a high seat load factor of 88.8%. "This indicates that air- lines were also more efficient in filling up the seats available, as more tourists chose to f ly to Mal- ta for their August break," it said. Looking at its top five markets, the airport said that the major- ity of tourists who f locked to the Maltese islands last month came from the UK, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, with the latter featuring as the fifth top driver of traffic to Malta for the second, consecutive month. "Healthy growth rates of 3.6% and 4.1% ensured that the UK and Italy respectively, retained their position as Malta Interna- tional Airport's top drivers of passenger traffic," MIA's state- ment read. "Both these markets presently enjoy an enhanced net- work to Malta, following added f lights on a number of routes such as Edinburgh and Cata- nia and a new popular route to Palermo." On the other hand, MIA said that the markets recording the most significant growth were Po- land and Spain. "Poland grew by 47% over last year after the intro- duction of Gdansk and Poznań brought Polish routes up to five. On the other hand, Spain re- corded a 14.7% growth over 2015 due to a new connection from Madrid and increased capacity to Gerona." Cargo and mail registered a decrease of 3.20% over the same month last year, MIA said. Planning Authority refuses reconstruction of Mdina ruins JAMES DEBONO THE Planning Authority has re- fused the reconstruction of the heavily weathered ruins of former agricultural rooms located just below the Mdina bastions, be- cause the development would ad- versely impact a very important natural and cultural landscape that contributes to "the character and scenic value of Mdina". The case officer report had originally recommended the ap- proval of the application to re- construct the ruins but in July the Environment Planning Com- mission noted that the 2014 rural policy ruled out any development which has "an unacceptable ad- verse impact on the environment, landscape, cultural or archaeo- logical sector." Aerial photos showed that the roofs of three rooms set below the bastions had already collapsed before 1967. The Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage had strongly ob- jected to a previous application to rebuild the rooms over a larger footprint by a previous owner. But when consulted on this ap- plication the cultural watchdog failed to give its feedback. The Environment Protection Directorate warned that the ru- ins of the former rooms should not serve as a pretext for a new structure. It also claimed that it was "dubious" whether the size of the proposed store reflected the dimensions of the pre-1967 structure depicted in a 1968 sur- vey sheet. But the case officer disputed this claim, insisting that all struc- tures are visible in aerial photos taken before 1967. The case officer also argued that the restoration of old vernac- ular buildings was encouraged by the new rural policy. The proposal involved the par- tial demolition of the dilapidated walls of two rooms at ground lev- el, the demolition of the external stone slab stairs and the demo- lition of the room at first floor level. The rooms and the stairs would be rebuilt on the original footprint. The structures would still be used for agricultural pur- poses. Din l-Art Helwa had objected to the proposed development, say- ing that although in its current state of ruin the buildings are "inconspicuous", if rebuilt they would clash with the fortifica- tions, creating an eyesore. The environmental organiza- tion also pointed out that the room on the first floor was a later addition and insisted that no newly built structure should be allowed to obstruct the fortifica- tions of Mdina. MEPA's Heritage Advisory Pan- el expressed a different opinion. According to the HAC since the structure is quite old it can also be considered to form part of the landscape, including the fortifi- cations. The panel added that it has no objection as long as the existing footprint and height of build- ing is maintained, and called on the applicant to use the existing weathered stone in the restored structure. A restoration method state- ment presented by the architect of the project claimed that the proposed building is a "good ex- ample of Maltese rural architec- ture." The new building would in- clude timber apertures and stone would be used from "selected quarries" with colour matching the existing building. Brian Azzopardi, who was as- sisted by architect and govern- ment advisor Robert Musumeci, presented the application which was ultimately turned down. Passenger movements in Malta International Airport in August reaches 598,515 Aerial photos showed that the roofs of three rooms below the Mdina bastions had collapsed before 1967