New M.C.M. maintenance facilities inaugurated

The new Maintenance Centre Malta maintenance facilities at Malta International Airport (apron-3) were inaugrated in the presence of Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi.

Speaking during the occassion, Dr Gonzi described this investment by M.C.M. as a welcome addition to the fast growing aviation maintenance cluster presence in Malta, joining other prestigious names in this sector such as Lufthansa Technik, SR Technics and Medavia, and as another show of confidence in Malta’s potential and in its workers.

Maintenence Centre Malta specialises in providing services to light executive jets. These new facilities will be welcoming their first aircraft tomorrow Saturday, June 26th, in the afternoon, a Bombardier CL-600 Challenger 604 (OE-INY) of VistaJet.

Air Malta ranks third in U.K. holidaymakers' survey

Air Malta has been ranked the third best short-haul airline flying out of the U.K. in a passenger satisfaction survey conducted by a leading travel magazine in March.

Some 5,700 members of the magazine Which? Holiday were asked to rate airlines on a number of criteria such as cleanliness, cabin staff, baggage allowance and value for money.

Air Malta scored a total of 68%, outscoring renowned airlines such as KLM (65%) and Lufthansa (64%). Aer Lingus pipped Air Malta with 71% while Swiss Airlines topped the survey at 72%.

Air Malta's CEO Joe Cappello said: "The result is evidence we are a truly customer focused airline and passengers are appreciating our value-focused strategy. This achievement would not have been possible were it not for the commitment, dedication and hard work of our employees."

(www.timesofmalta.com)

Malta International Air Rally 2010

The 41st edition of the Malta International Air Rally will be held this year between the 26th and 30th June.

Participants arriving at Malta International Airport on Saturday, June 26th, between 0900 and 1600 and Sunday, June 27th, between 0900 and 1200 will be judged for the Arrival, Timed Section and Spot Landing Competitions.

Saturday 26th

- G-HRNT Cessna 182S @ 1210

- N4599W Rockwell 112TC @ 1229
- G-FLYA Mooney M20J @ 1307

- G-BZPI Socata TB20 @ 1347

- OH-PCN Piper PA28-140 @ 1410

- G-TAAB Cirrus SR22 @ 1438

- OH-BRA Cirrus SR22 @ 1457

- G-RIGH Piper PA32R-301 @ 1608

Sunday 27th

- F-GTCI Cirrus SR20 @ 1207

- F-GPAP Robin DR400/180 @ 1225

Note: ALL times local (UTC +2hrs); Saturday's & Sunday's arrivals for apron-3.

2010 Air Rally Competitions:

Air Rally Overall Competion

- Overall Winner: The International Air Rally of Malta Trophy, a Maltese Falcon in bronze (pic above-right) *

- Runner-Up: The Stubbs Trophy *

- Third Place: The International Air Rally of Malta Third Place Trophy *

Arrival Competition

- Winner: The Arrival Trophy *

- Runner-Up: The Arrival Runner-Up Trophy *

- Third Place: The Committee Trophy ^

Timed Section Competition

- Winner: The Kissaun Trophy *

- Runner-Up: The Committee Trophy *

- Third Place: The Committee Trophy ^

Flight Planning Competition

- Winner: The Flight Planning Trophy *

- Runner-Up: The Flight Planning Runner-Up Trophy *

- Third Place: The Committee Trophy ^

Concours D'Elegance

- Winner: The British Caledonian Cup *

- Runner-Up: The Concours d’Elegance Runner-Up Trophy *

- Third Place: The Committee Trophy ^

George Cross Competition

- Winner: The George Cross Memorial Trophy *

Aero Club Competition

- Winner: The White/Campbell Memorial Trophy (1982) *

- Runner-Up: The Committee Trophy ^

Longest Distance Flown Competition

- Winner: The Longest Distance Trophy *

Spot Landing Competition

- Winner: The Spot Landing Trophy *

- Runner-Up: The Committee Trophy ^

The Ladies Trophy

- Winner: The Ladies Trophy ^

The Novice Trophy

- Winner: The Royal Air Force Trophy *

Most Sporting Entry

-Winner: To the entry not awarded any other Trophy in the Rally.

* for keepsake

^ to be won outright

For more info visit: http://maltarally.org/

Travel Service Hungary launches seasonal flts between Budapest and Malta

Travel Service Hungary has launched this afternoon its 'summer' seasonal flights on schedule between Budapest-Ferihegy (Hungary) and Malta Int'l Airport.

This first flight, operated with a Boeing B737-800WL registration HA-LKB, has landed at Malta Int'l Airport at 1613LT (as TVL614) and departed back to Budapest-Ferihegy at 1705LT (as TVL615).

Travel Service Hungary will be operating a weekly flight, with a B737-800, between Budapest-Ferihegy and Malta every Saturdays, up to September 25th, 2010.

Exercise Canale 2010 - the foreign participants

Exercise Canale 2010 comes to an end

The 17th edition of the bilateral Italo-Maltese aero-naval exercise Canale 2010 came to an end this morning with a conference on board the Italian navy ship Cmdt. A. Foscari (P 493) at the Valletta Waterfront.

Rear Admiral Roberto Camerini, commander of the Italian surveillance patrol, said the aim of the exercise was to promote cooperation in the 5+5 region, focusing on search and rescue and law enforcement.

Col. Emanuel Mallia, the officer in charge of the Maltese side, said the aims this year were to enhance cooperation, develop a centre on land to direct operations and establish a common communication network.

Lt Col. Claudio Spiteri said the exercise was 96 hours long, it involved seven ships and boats and six fixed wing and rotary assets.

The countries that took part were Malta, Italy, Algeria, France, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia.

The exercise’s manoeuvres, scenarios and drills were held in and around Maltese waters, and they were organised into a number of phases, each designed to exercise its participants in a number of different skills.

All assigned tasks focused on soft security issues rather than more traditional war-fighting skills.

The training scenarios’ aims were successfully achieved through improving cooperation and the operational capabilities of the participating air and naval forces.

(www.timesofmalta.com)

M.I.A. wins ACI Europe’s Best Airport Award 2010 in its category

Malta Int'l Airport is the winner of the ACI EUROPE Best Airport Award 2010 in the 1-5 million passengers category. This award was presented to the CEO J. Jaeger by A. Gittens Director General of ACI World for M.I.A.’s excellent and innovative entry, reflecting the airport’s serious progress across the range of competition criteria states an official statement released by ACI today.

The 6th Annual ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards were announced last night in Milan during the gala dinner of the 20th ACI EUROPE Annual Congress. It was the conclusion to a day of intensive exchanges and debates between more than 400 top industry representatives, national governments and E.U. officials, under the theme of this year’s event 'a 20 year vision of the airports of 2030'.

This years' judging panel was drawn from a well-respected group of independent experts including the European Commission, EUROCONTROL and the European Disability Forum.

ACI EUROPE counts more than 400 airports in 46 European countries among its membership and this year’s competition saw a high level of entries in each of the four categories.

The ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards cover 4 categories of airport and aim to recognise achievement in core activities such as customer service, retail, security and environmental awareness. The winner of the '5-10 million passenger' category was Lyon Airports, this year’s award in the '10-25 million passenger' category went to Manchester Airport, whilst the 'over 25 million passengers' category went to Barcelona Airport.

(www.maltairport.com)

Romavia launches first seasonal flts between Bucharest and Malta

Romavia has launched this morning its first 'summer' seasonal flights on schedule between Bucharest-Otopeni (Romania) and Malta Int'l Airport.

This first flight, operated with a British Aerospace BAe.146-200 registration YR-BEA, has landed at Malta Int'l Airport at 1025LT (as RMV145) and departed again to Bucharest-Otopeni at 1132LT (as RMV146).

Romavia will be operating a weekly flight, with a BAe.146-200, between Bucharest-Otopeni and Malta every Thursdays, up to September 30th, 2010.

easyJet launches flight ops between Liverpool and Malta

easyJet has launched today flight operations on schedule between Liverpool (U.K.) and Malta Int'l Airport.

This first flight, operated by Boeing B757-200 (OH-AFJ) - on wet-lease from Air Finland - has landed at Malta Int'l Airport at 1145LT as EZY724L. It departed back to Liverpool at 1316LT as EZY724U.

Liverpool-Malta-Liverpool is easyJet's sixth route being operated on schedule to Malta Int'l Airport, and fourth route between the U.K. and Malta.

Exercise Canale 2010

The 17th edition of Exercise Canale, organised jointly by the Italian Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of Malta, will take place this year, in Maltese territorial waters and airspace, between the 11th and 18th June.

The aim of Exercise Canale is to promote cooperation and peace in the Mediterranean, with particular emphasis on the 5+5 intiative. The exercise training activities will focus mainly on maritime search & rescue and maritime law enforcement combined ops.

Foreign participants (all arrived in Malta on 11th June):

Italian Air Force - HH-3F Pelican (MM80990)

Italian Air Force - P.166DL3-APH (MM25158)

Italian Air Force - P.166DL3-APH (MM25154)

Spanish Air Force - CN-235MPA-100 (D.4-03 / T.19B-10)

Spanish Air Force - SA-330L Puma (HD.19-3) ...arrived 12th June

Italian Navy NMM Comandante A. Foscari (P 493) - Comandanti Class Offshore-Patrol (w/ embarked AB-212ASW 'MM80950 / 7-19') *

French Navy FS Grebe (P 679) - Grebe Class Patrol Vessel *
Algerian Navy El Mourafik (261) - Salvage Ship *
Italian Coast Guard Oreste Corsi (CP 906) - Diciotti Class Offshore-Patrol

Italian Carabinieri Pignatelli (CC 811) - Classe-800 Fast-Patrol Craft

Note: * these vessels will be opened for public viewing at Valletta Waterfront tomorrow Saturday, June 12th, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Entrance is free of charge.

FS Cmdt. Bouan in Valletta Port on a courtesy visit

The French naval vessel FS Commandant Bouan (F 797) - a D'Estienne D'Orves (Type A69) Corvette - has arrived this evening in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) on a courtesy visit.

FS Commandant Bouan is scheduled to sail from Malta tomorrow, Friday June 11th, at 0630LT.

Comlux Malta Ltd. takes delivery of a new A318

Maltese registered company Comlux Malta Ltd. has taken delivery today of new a A318 corporate jet, an Airbus A318-112 Elite, with registration 9H-AFT.

The aircraft was delivered, in Comlux Avation Ltd. livery, from Hamburg (Germany) to Zurich (Switzerland) then to Malta Int'l Airport.

Year built: 2009/2010
Serial no.: 4169
Test registration: D-AUAB

M.I.A. plc releases traffic results for May 2010

Despite expected dregs of the volcanic ash disruptions, Malta Int'l Airport plc has reported an outstanding 19.3% increase which corresponds to 307,292 passenger movements registered for the month of May, in comparison to the same period last year. Moreover, passenger movements for the first five months of this year, compared to the same period last year, have registered an increase of 7.7% equivalent to 1,049,580 passenger movements. The positive result is mainly due to the increased capacity of seats and accessibility enhanced by additional routes and the seat load factor.

Flight movements for the month of May increased by 13.8% over May 2009 and the seat load factor registered a 2.8% point difference. The maximum take-off weight has risen by 13.2%, whilst cargo increased by 16.9% when compared to the same period in 2009.

This performance comes as a welcome boost of traffic figures after a rather dismal April which was marred by the Icelandic eruptions that affected the European airspace.

The core markets all registered significant increases in May with Spain leading with a 134%, then Italy with 31.7%, Germany with 21.7%, France 14.8% and U.K. with 6.8%, over the same month last year. On the other hand Rome’s Fiumicino airport, with a 35% increase, ranked highest as top destination in contrast to the British airport destinations that expectedly marked a decrease as still affected by the volcanic ash consequences.

(www.maltairport.com)

Bulgarian Border Police Patrol Vessl Obzor in Valletta Port on her maiden voyage

The Bulgarian Border Police Patrol Vessel Obzor (252) - a Damen Stan Patrol-4207 type - has arrived in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) today for a few hours.

Patrol Vessel Obzor (Yard No. 549869) is currently on her delivery voyage from her shipbuilders, Damen Shipyards Gorinchem, in the Netherlands to Bulgaria.