Malta's DCA has issued a new Part-145 Maintenance Organisation Approval to Maintenance Centre Malta Limited with Approval Reference MT.145.05. This approval covers line maintenance on A1 and A2 category aircraft.
Malta's DCA has issued the first Part-M Subpart F Maintenance Organisation Approval to Falcon Engineering Limited with Approval Reference MT.MF.01. This approval covers line and base maintenance of light aircraft used for general aviation.
The Armed Forces of Malta has ordered four new patrol boats worth €9.6 million, which will be co-financed by the EU External Borders Fund and the government.The AFM has commissioned world leader Austal to build the new 21.2m boats. This is the company's first European defence contract.
The vessels will be built at Austal's Australian shipyards and are scheduled for delivery by the end of the year. The vessels will have a maximum speed of more than 26 knots.
Addressing the press during a contract signing ceremony, Austal's managing director Bob Browning said the company was seeing increased interest from nations seeking fast and economical aluminium patrol boats for protection against modern-day coastal border security threats.
Austal was awarded the contract following an international tender process, which called for a proven design that addressed specific AFM requirements, as well as meeting a demanding delivery schedule.
Lieutenant Colonel Martin Sammut said the vessels will enhance border surveillance capabilities.
(Times of Malta)
Passenger movements at Malta International Airport in January decreased by 11.8 percent when compared to the same month last year.MIA said that it handed 138,010 movements, a shortfall of 18,430 passenger movements on the scheduled and non-scheduled flights.
Aircraft movements also dropped by 10.4 percent to a total of 1,694. The seat capacity in January showed a drop of 9.5 percent whilst the seat load factor also decreased by 1.5 percent.
Cargo and mail handled at MIA during last month was 1,313 tonnes - a drop of 14.6 percent over the same month last year.
MIA said that the loss in passengers from the UK market was again being felt with a drop of 13.4 per cent in passenger movements last months.
MIA again experienced a downturn of the Italian and French markets, (-11.5 percent) and (-4.5 percent), respectively, likewise the German market decreased by 9.5 percent.
However Frankfurt and Rome Fiumicino airports registered an increase of 13.2 percent and 18.4 percent in passenger movements to MIA when compared while Libyan Arab traffic increased by 17.2 percent.
(Times of Malta)