Mr Helmut Otahal, an Air Malta passenger travelling from Vienna to Malta on KM513 recently was confirmed the airports’ 18th millionth passenger. He received a surprise reception at the departure gate prior to his flight to Malta from Mr Friedrich Lehr, Head of Aviation at Vienna International Airport and Ms Carmen Pace, Air Malta’s Country Manager for Austria.

Mr Otahal, an Austrian national, was greeted with champagne at the departure gate. During a short activity Mr Lehr remarked that Vienna International Airport recorded a substantial growth above the European average. “Between January and November 2007, the number of passengers in Vienna increased by 10.9 percent compared to the same period last year,” he added. Visibly surprised Mr Otahal said he was very glad about this unexpected event. Mr Otahal added that he is an Air Malta frequent flier and works for an Austrian company which recently opened a branch office in Malta.

Ms Carmen Pace, Air Malta’s Country Manager for Austria said that Air Malta was very happy that one of its passengers was chosen by Vienna International Airport to celebrate this milestone. She added that Air Malta was delighted by Vienna route’s successes as more than 35,000 passengers travelled on the airline’s services to Vienna during last year. She added that Air Malta is confident that this route will continue to grow further in coming years.

The Malta-Vienna service was first launched 18 years ago by Air Malta. Vienna has always been an important destination to Air Malta linking the Maltese Islands to Austria - a gateway to Central and Eastern Europe. The Maltese airline currently operates three weekly flights in winter and 5 weekly flights during summer to Austria’s capital. A daily flight to Vienna is also available via Munich, through the code-share agreement between Air Malta and Lufthansa.