Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Fort Rosalie in Valletta Port

The Royal Fleet Auxilary vessel RFA Fort Rosalie (A 385) - a Fort I class replenishment ship - has sailed in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this afternoon for a two-week maintenance period.

This is RFA Fort Rosalie's second visit in Grand Harbour this year. Her first visit was from 10th to 17th August.

RFA Fort Rosalie is currently berthing portside alongside at Hamilton Wharf (Dock no. 2) in French Creek. Date of sail from Malta to be announced.

French Navy FS LV Lavallee in Valletta Port

The French naval vessel FS Lieutenant de Vaisseau Lavallee (F 790) - a D'Estienne d'Orves class (Type-A69) corvette - has sailed in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this afternoon on a six-day courtesy visit.

This is FS LV Lavallee's third port-call in the Grand Habour this year. Her first visit in the Grand Habour was between 14th and 16th July, and her second visit was between 1st and 7th August.

FS LV Lavallee is currently berthing at Deep Water Quay-2 and she's expected to sail from Malta on Monday, August 22nd, at 0900LT.

TM/DCA publishes the latest update of the Malta Aircraft Register

Transport Malta/Directorate of Civil Aviation has published today the latest update of the Malta Aircraft Register.

New addition/s:*

• 9H-AEV - Diamond DA42 M (Siraj Holdings S.A.L., Lebanon)

Canellation/s:* none

*since last register update of July 25, 2011.

French Navy FS Mistral in Valletta Port

The French naval vessel FS Mistral (L 9013) - a Mistral class amphibious assault helicopter carrier - has sailed in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning on a five-day visit.

This is FS Mistral's second port-call in the Grand Habour this month. Her first visit was on 11th August for 9.5-hrs.

FS Mistral is currently berthing alongside at Deep Water Quay 3/4 and she's scheduled to sail from Malta this Satuday, August 20th, at 1100LT.

United States Navy USS Carney in Valletta Port

The United States naval vessel USS Carney (DDG 64) - an Arleigh Burke Class (Flight I) Destroyer - has arrived this morning in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) on a four-day courtesy visit.

USS Carney is currently berthing at Pinto-4/5 Wharf and she's scheduled to sail from Malta on Wedesday, August 17th, at 0600LT.

Light aircraft makes emergency landing at Malta IAP

A 1974 Piper PA-31P (N900TB) registered in the U.S. this evening made an emergency landing at Malta International Airport. The aircraft, operated by Maps Geosystems Inc, turned off its engine on the runway and airport fire engines went to its assistance. The cause of the emergency could have possibly been a bird strike, sources said. (Source: timesofmalta.com/ Photo: Ian Pace)

Air Malta plane lands safely after landing gear fears

An Air Malta aircraft (Airbus A319 with registration '9H-AEJ') landed safely at Malta IAP this afternoon after fears of a landing gear fault. Informed sources said that a cockpit indicator showed a possible undercarriage problem. Fire engines were deployed alongside the runway, but the aircraft landed safely. The aircraft only had a flight crew on board.

In a statement at 5 p.m. Air Malta said that at no point in time did the flight commander declare an emergency (as reported by timesofmalta, among others) Furthermore, when asked by the Air Traffic Control whether he needed assistance on landing, the commander categorically stated that no assistance was required since the landing would have been a routine one.

The aircraft was operating a multi-sector flight and was on its first leg en-route from Malta to Catania. On arrival in Catania the crew reported an undercarriage crew awareness alert, and as a precaution, the crew were instructed to return the aircraft to base in Malta for inspection. Air Malta sent a relief aircraft to Catania to operate the remaining flights and minimise disruptions.

As a precautionary measure, the ferry flight back to Malta was operated with its undercarriage down. This ferry flight operated according to standard operating procedures for such circumstances. (Source: timesofmalta.com)

Royal Navy HMS Ocean in Valletta Port

The Royal naval vessel HMS Ocean (L 12) - an amphibious assault helicopter carrier - has sailed in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning at 0745 on a eight-day visit.

This is HMS Ocean's second visit in the Grand Harbour this year. Her first visit was from 6th to 10th July.

HMS Ocean is currently berthing starboard alongside at Parlatorio Wharf (Dock no. 6) in French Creek, and she's expected to sail from Malta today week, August 17th, at 1600LT.

M.I.A. plc releases traffic results for July 2011

Following the 12.7% growth reported for the first half of 2011, passenger movements at Malta IAP in July increased at a moderate rate of 3.4% reaching a record high for this month of 415,780 passengers.

In July, aircraft movements and seat capacity decreased by 7.5% and 5.1% respectively over the corresponding period last year, whilst the average seat load factor increased by a significant 6.9% to reach a staggering 84% from the 77.1% registered in July 2010. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) also decreased by 5.9% on that registered in July last year, whilst cargo and mail was 10.3% lower than that recorded during the same month in 2010.

Notwithstanding the overall increase in passengers during July 2011, all the core markets, with the exception of Germany and the United Kingdom, registered decreases during the month of July with Italy, Spain and France showing a decrease of 14%, 7.7% and 0.7% respectively. The largest market, the U.K., resulted in a discreet increase of 3.8%. The German market on the other hand registered an increase of 34.5%.

January-July 2011. The results for the first seven months of the year, in terms of passenger movements therefore show an increase of 10.6% when compared to the same period last year, totalling 1.97 million passenger movements. As already stated, this increase was mostly due to the increased capacity in the first four months of the year when compared to the same period last year. For the period January to July 2011, the average seat load factor improved by a significant 4.1% reaching 73.1%. (Source: maltairport.com)

Royal Air Force Tornado GR.4 diverts to Malta IAP

A Royal Air Force Tornado GR.4 (ZD790/099), part of ship of two Tornado GR.4s, was forced to divert to Malta IAP this afternoon after the crew reported a hydraulic/fuel leak. The British-jet landed safely on RWY31 at about 1753LT. The airport emergency services had to be deployed on scene to spray foam on the aircraft after it has landed. The accompanying Tornado GR.4 (ZD746/094) circled above the airfield and continued to Gioia del Colle AB, Italy, as soon as the troubled Tornado landed safely.

French Navy FS Var in Valletta Port

The French naval vessel FS Var (A 608) - a Durance class replenishment tanker - has sailed in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning at 0825LT on a one-day visit.

This is FS Var's second visit in the Grand Harbour in less than a week. First visit was between the 1st and 2nd August.

FS Var is currently berthing portside alongside at Pinto-1/2 Wharf and she's scheduled to sail from Malta this evening at 1800LT.

Royal Navy HMSs Chiddingfold & Grimsby in Valletta Port

Two Royal Navy mine countermeasure vessels, HMS Grimsby (M 108) - a Sandown class - and HMS Chiddingfold (M 37) - a Hunt class - have sailed into Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning at 0950LT on a four-day courtesy visit.
The two vessels are currently berthing portside alongside at Pinto-3 Wharf, and they are scheduled to sail from Malta this Friday, August 5th, at 0900LT (Grimsby) and 1000LT (Chiddingfold).