The Russians aren't coming (sorry)

Malta Air Traffic Services Ltd has officially denied local media reports of unauthorised incursions into Maltese airspace by Russian bombers.

Speaking to MaltaToday, MATS CEO, retired Brigadier Carmel Vassallo has quashed the reports, saying that “the aircraft were in communication with us and were following their flight plan”.

He added that the aircraft were 2 Ilyushin IL-76 transports and not the Tupolev Tu-95 Bear strategic nuclear bombers reported.

Senior head of ATM planning, Joe Degiorgio told MaltaToday that foreign military aircraft regularly fly in Maltese-controlled airspace, an area far larger than Maltese territorial waters and that there was absolutely no reason for alarm.

The news comes as NATO reports that its aircraft have tracked over 100 Russian military planes this year, three times the number reported last year. NATO warplanes yesterday shadowed four groups of Russian military aircraft conducting what it described as “significant” maneuvers in European airspace over the Baltic, North and Black seas.