HeliFly to launch transport service between Malta and Gozo by helicopter

In the first week of August, HeliFly Limited will launch a transport service between Malta and Gozo by helicopter. But not only – during this summer, there will also be a helicopter transport service for tourists visiting the three islands.

The innovative service has been conceived by Italian lawyer E. Blasio, CEO of HeliFly. "There are four activities that HeliFly will hold in Malta. These include Malta to Gozo transport, touristic tours around Malta, Gozo and Comino, trips to and from Sicily such as Taormina, Panarea and North Africa, and a flight training school,” Dr Blasio said.

HeliFly will operate in Malta in partnership with two business groups: Eurotech-Ariane, one of the most important Italian and international companies specialising in aerial works, and the Maltese Falcon Alliance and European Pilot Academy. With these two partnerships, HeliFly will provide the first helicopter training school in Malta.

HeliFly will work with different types of helicopters, including a Robinson R22 and Agusta A109. (Source: timesofmalta.com, 28-Jul-2017)

Three Polish military aircraft for 2017 Malta Int'l Airshow

The Polish Air Force (Siły Powietrzne) and Polish Naval Air Arm (Marynarka Wojenna RP) will be once again supporting the Malta International Airshow this year.

The Polish AF will be sending two assets for the static display line up. For the first time ever we shall be hosting an F-16 Fighting Falcon Block 52. Supporting the F-16 visit we shall also have a C-295M transport aircraft. 

The M-28B Bryza from the Polish Navy will again visit our island and increase the line up for the static display.

The three aircraft will fly high the Polish flag which in the last year's has become a firm participant during our airshow. (Source: maltairshow.com, 28-Jul-2017)

M.I.A. plc releases half-yearly results, revises projections for 2017

Malta Int'l Airport's revised projections indicate that circa 5.8 million passengers are expected to pass through the terminal by the end of the year, establishing a new traffic record for the airport. In the first half of the year, Malta IAP had already registered 2,639,712 passenger movements, amounting to an increase of 20% over the same period in 2016.

This solid six-month performance encouraged the company to revise its original forecast announced in January, while taking into account the growth rate reached so far, traffic developments for the winter season, and trends observed in the aviation industry.

CEO A. Borg presented this forecast at a press conference, noting that while passenger numbers have recently been experiencing an increase across all months, Malta International Airport will be persisting in its efforts to ascertain that the upcoming winter season maintains the momentum gained thus far.

Detailed traffic results for the first half of 2017 revealed that June was the third consecutive month to register over half a million passenger movements. The growth experienced in the first six months was bolstered by an upturn of 15% in aircraft movements and 19% in seat capacity.

Despite the increase in seat capacity, with over 3 million seats available on flights operated to Malta IAP in the first six months, a healthy seat load factor was maintained, which stood at 80.7%.

Looking ahead, important developments for winter 2017-18 include the introduction of four new winter routes operated by Ryanair and EasyJet, and the extension of a number of routes from summer into winter by Air Malta, Wizz Air and Aegean Airlines. In addition to this, increased flight frequencies during the upcoming season will also be offered by SAS, Lufthansa, Vueling, and Jet2.

By the end of the year, the airport will have invested EUR16 million in its infrastructure, with the heftiest injection being in the terminal reconfiguration project. Completed project milestones include the opening of a new La Valette lounge, a re-conceived observation deck, and the security screening area relocation. Upon conclusion of the project’s first phase, the terminal will also be furnished with eight additional check-in desks and a new baggage handling system. (Source: maltairport.com, 27-Jul-2017)

Jet2 announces new route to Malta from London-Stansted

Leisure airline Jet2.com has added further to its Stansted schedule for summer 2018, with three new routes and extra flights to nine other destinations. Jet2.com and is sister package holiday company Jet2holidays will now also fly to Malta, Naples (Italy) and Nice (France) next summer, bringing its total number of destinations from Stansted for the season to 33. (Source: ipswichstar.co.uk, 27-Jul-2017)

Air Malta to add another plane to its fleet next summer

Air Malta is to add a plane to its current fleet of eight aircraft as of next summer, with the airline saying the addition will give it more flexibility to service popular routes and add new ones. The decision to grow its fleet of aircraft was sanctioned by the company's board of directors earlier this week, on the recommendation of the carrier's management. 

In a statement, the company said that the decision was in line with its growth strategy and would allow Air Malta to boost its seat capacity and fuel growth in passenger numbers. The national airline's commercial team is currently carrying out market research into potential destinations Air Malta can expand into.

The airline currently carries an estimated 1.6 million passengers every year. It has been hobbled by financial difficulties, despite an E.U.-sanctioned bailout some years back. Tourism Minister K. Mizzi has said that his main focus will be on turning the airline's fortunes around and ensuring it can stand on its own two feet. (Source: timesofmalta.com, 22-Jul-2017)

Swiss AF's PC-7 Team for 2017 Malta Int'l Airshow

Our friends, the Swiss Air Force PC-7 Team will be in Malta once again to give us there great displays. Switzerland will be the fifth country participating in this year's Malta International Airshow, also bringing the number of display teams to two after Turkish AF's Turkish Stars where confirmed some weeks ago.

The PC-7 is a two-seater turboprop trainer aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. in Stans, Switzerland. The Swiss AF procured their PC-7s in 1983. After 25 years in operation, the aircraft were completely modernised in 2008. A state-of-the-art glass cockpit, GPS and autopilot were fitted, developing the PC-7 into a modern training platform for the future pilots of the Swiss AF.

The organising team of the Malta International Airshow from the Malta Aviation Society would publicly like to thank the Swiss Air Force and PC-7 Team for accepting our invitation. (Source: maltairshow.com, 21-Jul-2017)

easyJet's flight bound to Catania diverts to Malta IAP

An easyJet Airbus A320-200 (G-EZTR), performing flight U2-1981 from Manchester (U.K.) to Catania-Fontanarossa (Sicily, Italy), had to divert to Malta IAP this morning due to bad weather over Catania. The flight then continued to Catania reaching destination with a delay of 3-hrs 45-mins on its original scheduled time. (16-Jul-2017)

Two RAF Tornados for 2017 Malta Int'l Airshow

Two Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s will be participating in the 25th edition of the Malta International Airshow. The Tornado GR4 is a two-seat, all-weather, day/night attack and reconnaissance aircraft. 

It has been in service with the RAF for more than 30 years, but a combination of major upgrade programmes and numerous continual enhancements has kept the aircraft amongst the forefront of all attack aircraft. (Source: maltairshow.com, 14-Jul-2017)

Wizz Air launches new route Skopje-Malta IAP

Wizz Air launched today its new route between Skopje (Macedonia) and Malta IAP. The first scheduled flight (W6-7765), operated with an Airbus A320-200 (HA-LWJ), landed at Malta IAP around 0745lt. The return flight (W6-7766) to Skopje departed from Malta IAP around 0855lt. WizzAir will be operating this new route twice-weekly, on Mondays and Fridays. (14-Jul-2017)

Air Malta to restart Malta-Frankfurt service as from November 2017

Air Malta is to recommence services to Frankfurt as from November, operating four times a week in winter and daily in Summer. The decision was announced after a board meeting yesterday, and the airline is embarking on an intensive campaign to market the route.

The airline said today that its new service will be supported by an aggressive sales force as it is reorganising its the commercial effort in Germany and other main markets mainly across Europe.

Further changes are expected soon in the commercial area including a new product range. The board meeting was chaired by new chairman C. Mangion. Tourism Minister K. Mizzi attended. (Source: timesofmalta.com, 13-Jul-2017)

M.I.A. plc releases traffic results for June 2017

Malta Int'l Airport hosted 578,827 passengers in June 2017, translating into an increase of 17.5% over the same month last year. June's growth partly resulted from Malta IAP's recently launched summer schedule which is its busiest yet.

In fact, aircraft movements in June grew by 11.7%, reaching a total of 4,071 movements. In addition to this, seat capacity increased by 15.5%, while seat load factor improved by 1.1%.

The airport's top five markets in June were the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. These markets all registered varying degrees of growth, with the Spanish market experiencing the most marked increase, at 38.2%.

June's numbers bring the total number of passengers for the first half of the year up to 2,639,712. (Source: maltairport.com, 12-Jul-2017)

Ryanair opens reservations on three new routes from Malta IAP in 207/18 winter season

Ryanair in the last few weeks gradually opened reservations on three new routes from Malta IAP scheduled for winter 2017/18 season:

• Malta–Riga (Latvia): twice weekly on Thursdays and Sundays, as from 29oct17.
• Malta–Belfast (N. Ireland): twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays, as from 30oct17.
• Malta–Naples (Italy): twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays, as from 30oct17.

(Source: routesonline.com, 12-Jul-2017)

easyJet to fly to Malta from London-Southend

easyJet will start flying to Malta from London-Southend on Oct. 29th, 2017. The new route will operate twice a week year round on an A320 aircraft. easyJet expects to carry more than 30,000 passengers on the route in its first year of operation.

“We are really pleased to be expanding our route offering from Malta with the addition of this new service to London and know that our Maltese customers who fly to London will be pleased with the addition of another route into London,” Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK country manager, said. (Source: timesofmalta.com, 11-Jul-2017)

Air Malta A320 makes a precautionary landing at Malta IAP, possible landing gear problem

Malta Int'l Airport was on alert this evening after an Air Malta scheduled flight from Geneva (KM-483) reported a technical problem as it approached landing.  According to TVM, the captain reported to the control tower that the aircraft had a possible technical problem in its landing gear.

But, according to the report, the message was understood to mean that the plane was being forced to make an emergency landing, prompting airport emergency services to be deployed on standby as a precaution. 

The aircraft, Airbus A320-200 (9H-AEN) which was carrying 170 passengers and six crew members, landed safely at around 2030lt.  No injuries were reported and the aircraft was subsequently inspected. (Source: timesofmalta.com & tvm.com, 8-Jul 2017)

Two German Navy aircraft for 2017 Malta Int'l Airshow

The German Marineflieger (Naval Air Arm) shall again honour us with its assets on static display during the 25th Edition of the Malta International Airshow. The two assets participating will be a P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft accompanied by a Dornier 228NG used for Pollution Control. 

Both aircraft belong to the same squadron, Marinefliegergeschwader 3 based at Nordholz. This will see the return of German participation after an absence of two years at the show. The Malta Aviation Society is honoured once again to be able to host once again our German friends. (Source: maltairshow.com, 7-Jul-2017)