Fincantieri redelivers upgraded OPV P61 to AFM

Fincantieri delivered Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPv) P61 to the Armed Forces of Malta, following upgrading activities carried out at the Group's dry-docking facility within the Port of Genoa.

The aim of the works, which lasted about six months, was to improve the reaction capability of the vessel. The upgrade included the installation of a new main propulsion plant, other machinery and equipment as well as the overhaul of most of the ship’s on board systems.  

OPV P61 is over 53m long and was built and delivered by Fincantieri's shipyard of Muggiano to the Armed Forces of Malta in 2005. It is a modified variant of the Diciotti-Class patrol boat, built by Fincantieri for the Italian Coast Guard.

The upgrading project was co-financed by the European Union Internal Security Fund. (Source: Fincantieri, 27-Nov-2017)

Air Malta to launch scheduled service between Malta and Lisbon next March

As from Mar. 25th, 2018, Air Malta shall be operating a twice-weekly scheduled service between Malta and Lisbon (Portugal) every Thursday and Sunday, as follows:

Thursday 

KM594 18:40 MLA-LIS 20:55
KM595 21:45 LIS-MLA 01:45

Sunday
KM594 12:15 MLA-LIS 14:20
KM595 15:10 LIS-MLA 19:10

Go Light and fly with us from just 39€ one-way (out of Malta) and 49€ one-way (departing Lisbon). (Source: AirMalta, 28-Nov-2017) 

Air Nostrum acquires majority shareholding in Medavia Operations Co. Ltd.

An agreement has been reached between Mediterranean Aviation Co. Ltd (Medavia) and Air Nostrum for Air Nostrum to acquire 51% shareholding in Mediterranean Aviation Operations Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Medavia which holds the air operator’s certificate. 

This agreement does not affect in any way Medavia assets, including employees and aircraft but provides an opportunity for the creation of new business for both shareholding companies.

Air Nostrum is a Spanish regional carrier operating flights within EU and through this acquisition will cover new geographical areas. The same opportunity for Medavia to increase its flights within the EU through its regional charters is further strengthened. (Source: Medavia, 24-Nov-2017)

Small Fly Co. Ltd to start cargo flts between Lamezia and Malta IAP from Nov. 28th

As from Nov. 28th, Maltese company Small Fly Co. Ltd will start operating a cargo flight between Lamezia-Terme (Italy) and Malta International Airport twice a week. 

Flights (operated with ATR-72F) will be arriving at Malta IAP at 5:55 a.m. and departing to Lamezia Terme Airport at 6:55 a.m., with interconnections to and from Milan-Linate and Rome-Fiumicino airports. 

This new flight is only the early stage of a broader project contemplating to expand the Small Fly cargo activities all over Europe, aiming at five cargo flights a week between Italy and Malta, since the beginning of 2018. (Source: Small Fly, 23-Nov-2017)

Emirates B77W diverts to Malta IAP due to a medical emergency

An Emirates Boeing B777-300ER (A6-EGE), performing flight EK-220 between Orlando IAP (U.S.A.) and Dubia IAP (U.A.E.), had to divert to Malta Int'l Airport this morning due to a medical emergency on board. The B77W continued with its flight to Dubai after 3-hrs and 40-mins on the ground. (23-Nov-2017)

Air Malta Frankfurt flight delayed overnight due to technical trouble

An Air Malta flight from Frankfurt scheduled for yesterday evening never took off after the aircraft was grounded due to technical problems.  KM-329 was due to leave Frankfurt airport at 2010lt, but ran into technical trouble and required repairs.  Engineers were unable to fix the problem by the time the airport closed at 2300lt, forcing passengers to spend an extra night in Germany. 

Passengers and cabin crew spent the night in nearby hotels courtesy of the airline and were offered dinner, an Air Malta spokesman said.  Repair work resumed early this morning and the flight is expected to leave after the aircraft successfully completes a series of engine runs. 

Air Malta apologised for the inconvenience due to circumstances beyond its control, saying that it gave the utmost importance to the safety of its passengers and staff. (Source: timesofmalta.com, 20-Nov-2017)

Five flights bound to Malta IAP divert to airports in Sicily & Tunisia due to bad weather over Malta

A severe thunderstorm over the Maltese Island this afternoon has forced five aircraft en route to Malta IAP to divert to Palermo and Catania-Fontanarossa in Sicily, Italy and Tunis-Carthage in Tunisia.

• SAS Scandinavia Airlines Airbus A320-200N (SE-DOZ), operating flight SK-1845 between Stockholm-Arlanda (Sweden) and Malta IAP, diverted to Palermo. The flight then continued to Malta reaching destination with a delay of nearly five-hours on its original scheduled time. 
• British Airways Airbus A320-200 (G-GATL), operating flight BA-2644 between London-Gatwick (U.K.) and Malta IAP, diverted to Catania. The flight will then continue to Malta reaching destination with a delay of nearly three hours.
• Ryanair Boeing B737-800 (EI-FRW), operating flight FR-2411 between East Midlands (U.K.) and Malta IAP, diverted to Catania. The flight then continued to Malta reaching destination with a delay of nearly three hours. 
• Ryanair Boeing B737-800 (EI-DYF), operating flight FR-7796 between Marseille (France) and Malta IAP, diverted to Catania. The flight then continued to Malta reaching destination with a delay of 2-hrs 20-mins. 
• Air Malta A320-200 (9H-AHR), operating flight KM-515 between Vienna (Austria) and Malta IAP, diverted to Tunis. The flight then continued to Malta reaching destination with a delay of nearly 2-hrs 45-mins. 

(10-Nov-2017)

Air Malta to start services to Casablanca, Venice and St Petersburg next summer

In line with its growth stategy Air Malta announced direct services to three destinations; Casablanca (Morocco), Venice (Italy) and St Petersburg (Russia) for summer 2018.

The destinations were announced today during the World Travel Market (WTM), the annual leading global travel trade show being held in London between the 6th and the 8th November.

Casablanca

Air Malta will inaugurate a new twice weekly scheduled service every Monday and Thursday marking a return to one of the most important cities of Africa and the largest city in Morocco, Casablanca. The Air Malta is resuming its services to Casablanca after an absence of around ten years.

KM-724 Malta 1630 – 1755 Casablanca

KM-725 Casablanca 1855 – 2355 Malta

Venice

Air Malta will re-start flying to Venice, one of the world’s most romantic and enchanting cities, as from the 26-Mar-18. The Maltese airline will fly to Venice-Marco Polo airport with a twice a week every Monday and Saturday.

KM-638 Malta 2045 – 2230 Venice

KM-639 Venice 2320 – 0110 Malta

St Petersburg

Air Malta will start operating a twice weekly scheduled service to St Petersburg, Russia, every Wednesday and Saturday as from the 29-Mar-2018. The flight schedule to the city will complement the three times weekly service to Russia’s capital, Moscow, which will increase to a four weekly flight schedule in peak summer.

Wednesdays

KM-568 Malta 2200 – 0305 St Petersburg

KM-569 St. Petersburg 0355 – 0715 Malta

Saturdays

KM-568 Malta 2100 – 0205 St Petersburg

KM-569 St. Petersburg 0255 – 0615 Malta

(Source: Air Malta, 8-Nov-2017)

M.I.A. plc release traffic results for 2017 summer season

Malta International Airport closed off summer, which stretches from April until the end of October for the aviation industry, with 4,249,321 passenger movements. This translates into an impressive increase of more than 600,000 passenger movements over the same comparable period in 2016.

Growth in passenger numbers in the summer months was observed in parallel with an upturn of 13.3% in aircraft movements and an increase of 16.1% in seat capacity, mainly stemming from an enhanced flight schedule for the season. Moreover, at 85.0%, seat load factor for the seven-month period remained unchanged from last year.

The top drivers of passenger traffic to Malta IAP were the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. Growing by 9.6% over last year, the U.K. accounted for 1,025,055 passengers, which is almost a quarter of the airport's total traffic for summer. The other four markets all registered double-digit growth ranging between 14.0% and 32.5%, with Spain's increase being the most noteworthy.

Having welcomed over 5.2 million passengers for the year to date, the airport's focus has now shifted to achieving the best results for winter.  On the last weekend of October, the airport unveiled its new winter schedule featuring 66 destinations, five of which are new.

Traffic through Malta International Airport in October grew by 15.4% to reach 596,648 passenger movements, on the back of a 14.7% increase in aircraft movements and a 16.4% increase in seat capacity. (Source: maltairport.com, 8-Nov-2017)

Volotea to operate two new routes to Malta next year from Nice and Bilbao

Spanish low-cost airline Volotea announced it will operate two new routes from and to Malta from Nice (France) and Bilbao (Spain). The new routes will increase the number of passengers the airline will carry to 32,300 from and to Malta next year with 230 flights.

The Bilbao routes will start operating once a week from March next year with more than 7,300 passengers. The Nice flight enters into the airline’s schedule from April 2018 with once-a-week flights which are expected to carry some 7,000 passengers. The two routes will be added to the Bordeaux route in France which Volotea is already operating from and to Malta.

Mr E. Friart, a director of Volotea, stated that the Nice destination will provide an opportunity to the Maltese to visit the maritime city in the south of France which boasts of picturesque scenery, while Bilbao is a destination in the north of Spain, renowned for food and unique scenery in the region. (Source: tvm.com.mt, 7-Nov-2017)

Threats hold up Air Malta flight from Rome

An Air Malta flight from Rome was delayed for several hours today after Italian police received a threat about the flight, the airline said this morning. 

Flight KM-613 to Malta was grounded as Italian authorities searched the plane and checked passengers' luggage. No information was given about the type of threat received. 

The flight was due to depart at 10.10am and arrive in Malta at 11.35am. It finally departed mid-afternoon and is expected to land at Malta International Airport at 4.45pm. 

"The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and staff is of paramount importance," an airline spokesman said after the plane had been given the all-clear.  "We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our guests due to circumstances beyond our control." (Source: timesofmalta.com, 6-Nov-2017)