Royal Netherlands Navy HNLMS Vlaardingen in Valletta Port

The Royal Netherlands naval vessel HNLMS Vlaardingen (M 863) - an Alkmaar class (type Tripartite) mine countermeasures vessel - has sailed into Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning at 0840LT on a courtesy visit

This is HNLMS Vlaardingen's third visit in the Grand Harbour this year. Her first visit was from 22nd to 25th September and second visit from 20th to 24th October.

The Dutch MCMV is presently berthing portside alongside at Wine Wharf and she's exepected to sail from the Grand Harbour on Tuesday, November 1st.

Royal Navy HMS Bangor in Valletta Port

The Royal naval vessel HMS Bangor (M 109) - a Sandown class mine countermeasures vessel - has sailed into Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) today on a courtesy visit.

This is HMS Bangor's sixth visit in the Grand Harbour this year. Her first visit was from 19th to 23th January, second from 24th to 26th July, third from 4th to 7th August, fourth from 26th August to 12th September and fifth from 18th to 22nd October.

HMS Bangor is currently berthing portside alongside at Pinto-4 Wharf and she's scheduled to sail from Valletta Port on Wednesday, November 2nd.

Air Malta launches winter schedule

Air Malta has launched its new winter schedule which will run between Sunday (Oct. 30th) and March 24. The schedule has 21 direct destinations with over 100 flights every week.

New additions this winter include a twice weekly direct service to Berlin, Hamburg and Istanbul and increased services to/from Vienna which will now see the airline operating with a five times weekly frequency.

The airline's winter schedule also includes flight timings of 22 other destinations that are being offered through Air Malta's code-share partners: Lufthansa, Emirates, Brussels Airlines, bmi, Austrian Airlines and Etihad Airlines. This season, the Maltese airline will also operate intra-European flights between Brussels and Amsterdam, Athens and Sofia and Catania and Munich.

"This winter we will be operating with ten aircraft and are aiming to float over 770,000 seats to/from Malta. Although this is an ambitious target considering the global economic situation, we are cautiously optimistic that we can achieve good passenger figures also this season," P. Saunders, Air Malta's chief commercial officer said.

This winter Air Malta will be operating direct flights to; Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Catania, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Istanbul, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Manchester, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Rome, Sofia, Tripoli, Vienna and Zurich. (Source: timesofmalta.com)

Belgian Navy BNS Lobelia in Valletta Port

The Belgian naval vessel BNS Lobelia (M 921) - an Aster class (type Tripartite) mine countermeasures vessel - has sailed into Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning around 0735LT on a courtesy visit.

This is BNS Lobelia's third visit in the Grand Harbour this year. Her first visit was from 31st August to 6th September and the second from 1st to 5th October.

The Belgian MCMV is presently berthing portside alongside at Boiler Wharf and she's expected to sail from Malta on Tuesday, November 1st.

TM/DCA: Malta Aircraft Register - update 21/10/2011

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

New addition/s:

• 9H-PPL - Tecnam P2002-JF (c/n. 029) registered to European Pilot Academy Co. Ltd. (ex G-CDTE)


• 9H-ZAR - Schweizer 269C-1 (c/n. 0347) registered to Polaris Marine Services Co. Ltd. (ex G-CGGI)
  

Cancellation/s: none

Royal Canadian Navy HMCS Vancouver in Valletta Port

The Royal Canadian naval frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) - a Halifax class - has sailed into Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning on a courtesy visit.

The Canadian frigate has currently onboard one CH-124A Sea King helicopter, serial 12412.

HMCS Vancouver is presently berthing portside alongside at Boiler Wharf (Senglea Quay) and she's scheduled to sail from Malta on Friday, October 21st, at 1100LT.

Brussels Airlines selects Lufthansa Technik Malta for A330 base maintenance

Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa Technik Malta have signed a base maintenance contract for the Airbus A330 fleet of the carrier. Lufthansa Technik Malta will provide C-Checks for the five A330s of Brussels Airlines starting from now on. Additionally Lufthansa Technik Malta has been selected to do a full cabin retrofit of the aircraft starting in February 2012. (Source: avitrader.com)

Air Malta A320 makes emergency landing at Amsterdam due to hydraulic failure

An Air Malta Airbus A320-200 (9H-AEF), performing flight KM-396 from Malta (Malta) to Amsterdam (Netherlands) with 180 people on board, was on approach to Amsterdam when the crew reported a hydraulic failure. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on RWY06. (Source: avherald.com)

French Navy FS Commandant Birot in Valletta Port

The French naval avisos FS Commandant Birot (F 796) - a D'Estienne d'Orves class (type A69) - has sailed in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning on a courtesy visit.

This is FS Cmdt. Birot's second visit in Valletta Port this year. Her first port-call was between 11th and 16th June.

FS Cmdt. Birot is presently berthing starboard alongside at Wine Wharf and she's expected to sail from Malta on Monday, October 17th, at 0840LT.

French Air Force Mirage 2000D diverts to Malta IAP

An armed French Air Force Mirage 2000D (617/133-IS) was forced to divert to Malta IAP this morning after the crew reported to Malta ATC that they have the refuelling probe damaged and couldn't refuel in the air. The French Mirage landed safely around 1005LT. The Mirage 2000D departed again after being repaired around 2015LT.

German Navy FGSs S80 Hyane & S75 Zobel in Valletta Port

Two German naval fast-attack crafts, FGS S80 Hyane (P 1630) and FGS S78 Zobel (P 6125) - both Gepard Class (type 143) - have sailed into Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this afternoon around 1715LT for a visit of a few hours.

The two German crafts are presently berthing portside alongside at Pinto-2 Wharf and are scheduled to sail from Malta this evening around 2130LT.

TM/DCA: Malta Aircraft Register - update 10/10/2011

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

New addition/s:

• 9H-GVV - Airbus ACJ319-115X (c/n. 3542) registered to Privajet Ltd. (ex VP-BVA)

Cancellation/s: none

French Navy FS Tonnerre in Valletta Port

The French naval vessel FS Tonnerre (L 9014) - a Mistal class amphibious assault helicopter carrier - has sailed in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) this morning around 0900LT on a courtesy visit.

The French assault carrier is presently berthing starboard alongside at Pinto-4/5 Wharf and she's scheduled to sail from Malta on Monday, October 10th, at 0800LT.

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

Passenger movements at Malta Int'l Airport in Sep-2011 reached 382,389, i.e. the highest number ever registered in September. The increase in passenger movements, when compared to the same month last year, is equivalent to an increase of 2.4% over Sep-2010. This increase was achieved with a seat capacity of 459,425 seats, i.e. 7.8% less seats than in the same period last year.

In September, aircraft movements decreased by 10.6% over the corresponding period last year, whereas the average seat load factor increased by 8.2% to reach 83.2% - up from the 75% registered in September 2010. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) was 7.4% lower than that registered in September last year, whilst cargo and mail was 7.1% higher than that recorded during the same month in 2010.

In this same month, the German, French and U.K. markets grew by 22%, 10.2% and 3.1% respectively, whereas the Italian (5.6%) and Spanish (1%) markets registered a decline during September

January–September 2011: The results for the first nine months of the year, in terms of passenger movements, therefore show an increase of 7.6% when compared to the same period last year, totalling 2,781,802 passenger movements. The increase of 4.7% in the seat load factor – which for the period January to September 2011 stands at 76.1% - together with the marginal increase of 1.1% in seat capacity was the main driver of this result. (Source: maltairport.com)