The Armed Forces of Malta’s brand new King Air B200 maritime patrol aircraft, suitably equipped to meet Malta's requirements for offshore patrol arrived this afternoon. This AFM-operated aircraft will augment the current fixed wing fleet and perform an additional role in the protection of the southern external borders of the EU, through missions which include detection, identification and coordination operations. In a secondary function, the aircraft will perform search and rescue flights. The KingAir B200 is manufactured by Hawker Beech Corporation, based in Wichita, USA. The specialised mission system equipment, sourced from Europe and America, integrates a Telephonics RDR 1700B 360° belly mounted radar, a Wescam MX 15i Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) system, SAR direction finder plus a number of other sensors and communication equipment, including satellite communication and data transmission.(www.timesofmalta.com)
A Libyan Airlines ATR-42 turbo-prop aircraft, with registation 5A-LAF, has been denied permission to land at Malta International Airport this afternoon.The aircraft flew unexpectedly to Malta and when queried about landing permission, the pilot gave details about a flight which was supposed to have come to Malta yesterday.Landing permission was immediately denied and the aircraft then circled for some 20 minutes south of Malta while attempts were made for the decision to be reversed.The pilot eventually decided to return home.(www.timesofmalta.com)
An Emirates A330-200 aircraft (A6-EAR) is stranded at the Malta Int'l Airport after the ULD luggage trolley toppled due to strong winds and collided with the aircraft.The airplane was parked on the apron when the collision occurred not long before it was due to take off. All passengers disembarked safely.Th flight EK108 was scheduled to depart for Dubai via Larnaca at 1450LT when the engine was damaged. It is still unknown when the flight will depart from Malta.(www.di-ve.com)
Ryanair is to reduce the frequency of its Malta-Girona service to two flights a week instead of three as from May 1, informed sources said.Flights will be operated on Saturdays and Tuesdays, with the Irish low-cost carrier dropping its Thursday flight.No official reason has been given but sources said Ryanair is reducing services from Girona because of disagreements over subsidies for the use of that airport.(www.timesofmalta.com)
The French naval survey (hydro/oceangraphic) vessel FS Beautemps-Beaupre (A 758) has arrived this morning in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) on a courtesy visit.
FS Beautemps-Beaupre is currently berthing alongside at Pinto-1 Wharf and she's scheduled to depart from Malta on Sunday, February 20th, at 0900LT.
easyJet has launched today flight operations on schedule between Beltfast Int'l Airport (Northern Ireland) and Malta Int'l Airport.
This first flight, operated by Airbus A319 (G-EJAR), has landed at Malta IAP at 1232LT as EZY6731. It departed back to Belfast IAP at 1324LT as EZY6731.
Th Beltfast-Malta-Beltfast service will operated twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Malta Int'l Airport welcomes the announcement earlier today that it is one of the top performing airports in the annual ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passenger survey, by placing first airport in Europe across all categories.Commenting about this achievement, M.I.A. CEO J. Jaeger said that once again, M.I.A.’s continuous investment in enhancing service levels has reaped the desired results, and has not only been recognised by the industry through the Airport of the Year Award last year, but now also through the direct input from passengers.
"This prestigious placing in the world’s leading Airport Passenger Survey is a sign that we’re on the right track to ensure that the passenger experience at Malta IAP is a positive one and is recognised by the passengers themselves," added Mr Jaeger.He said that whilst one has to admit that in surveys such as the ASQ, small airports are at an advantage, one cannot diminish the great feat achieved by M.I.A. in placing first across all airport categories in Europe. This follows the fourth place achieved in 2009.Mr Jaeger also commented on the other important placing achieved by M.I.A. in this survey, which is that of fourth best airport in the world in the 2–5 million passengers category.He concluded by stating that these achievements were due to the commitment of all M.I.A. employees as well as to the hard work of all other stakeholders present at the airport. "Whilst celebrating these achievements, we must keep in mind that this puts a further responsibility on us all to maintain and enhance the service quality offered at Malta IAP; especially when one considers the strategic role it performs in the islands’ tourism industry."ASQ is a leading industry benchmarking tool carried out in 154 airports worldwide and surveying 300,000 passengers. It is designed to help participating airports to measure their improvement year on year, as well as to benchmark against their peers worldwide, within their region and in the same size category.(www.maltairport.com)
Ryanair has announced one new route from Malta to Glasgow-Prestwick for the summer.
Flights will be operated twice weekly, every Sunday and Thursday, starting on April 15th.
Traffic for 2011 at Malta IAP was off to a positive start, with passenger movements for the first month of the year reaching 169,673, i.e. the highest number ever registered in January. The increase in passenger movements, when compared to the same month last year is equivalent to an increase of 14.9%. This was brought about by a record seat capacity for the month, which reached 282,574 seats, i.e. an increase of 10.7% over January 2010.
The average seat load factor was also on the increase when compared to January 2010, reaching 60.0% - an increase of 2.1% (57.9% in January 2010), whilst aircraft movements for the month grew by 11.5% over the corresponding period last year. Likewise the maximum take-off weight (MTOW) was 13.7% higher than the corresponding period, whilst cargo and mail was 2.4% lower than that recorded during the same month in 2010.
The French, Spanish and Italian markets once again grew remarkably in January, by 51.1%, 41.9% and 32.4% respectively, whereas the U.K. and Germany grew by a more modest 4.8% and 4.0% respectively.
(www.maltairport.com)
Transport Malta / Directorate of Civil Aviation has publised today the latest edition of the Maltese National Aircraft Register.
New additions (since last update of December 3, 2010):- 9H-AFX - Vulcanair P68C (Dover Bay AB, Sweden)
- 9H-AFX - Fokker F28-0070 (Gladiator Leasing Ltd.)
- 9H-GBT - BD-700 Global Express (Carre Aviation Ltd.)
The Armed Forces of Malta’s brand new King Air B200 maritime patrol aircraft, suitably equipped to meet Malta's requirements for offshore patrol arrived this afternoon. 
