Two Air Malta flights delayed as pilots, cabin crew caught in traffic

Two Air Malta flights were delayed Wednesday morning after some of the pilots, cabin crew and passengers arrived late due to heavy traffic congestion.

Flight KM394 to Amsterdam left at 8.07am, instead of 7.40am, a delay of 27 minutes, as the airline kept the departure gates open for all late passengers.

Air Malta flight KM306 to Munich was scheduled to depart at 8.45am but was delayed for 46 minutes. It left at 9.31am and arrived in Munich at 11.47am.

Air Malta pilots and cabin crew use transport provided by the airline, but the heavy traffic in many main hotspots resulted in the crew not reaching Malta International Airport in Luqa at the allotted times.

Many passengers were also late due to the traffic problems and arrived at the departures lounge way past the normal checking-in time window.

But Air Malta decided to leave the departure desks and gates open for the late passengers after it had been made aware of the issue.

Air Malta spokesman Stephen Gauci told MaltaToday this was the first time this year that flights had been delayed because of heavy traffic on the roads.

“The company apologised to all its passengers and will continue to monitor the situation to determine whether alternate arrangements need to be made in the future,” he said.

“The delay in the case of the two early flights did not have a ripple effect and all  other flights after those departed on schedule.”

MaltaToday has confirmed that no other airlines experienced any delays in flights leaving Malta.