Air Malta adds ninth aircraft to fleet

Air Malta has added a ninth aircraft to its fleet for aircraft as the airline continues with its new growth strategy.

The leased airbus A320 landed in Malta late on Thursday evening and will soon be put into service on Air Malta’s network, the airline said.

“The Airbus A320 aircraft has been reconfigured to Air Malta specifications including the painting of the complex Maltese Airline livery,” Air Malta said in a statement.

It said the “complex livery change required strong expertise in applying multi-layered designs to the fuselage”, and was carried out by Etihad Airways Engineering using stencils. The aircraft was also given a “six-year heavy maintenance check”.

“We have started operating our summer schedule that sees us fly to no less than 17 new routes, three of which are flights between European cities not involving Malta,” chairman Charles Mangion said.

“This aircraft will give us additional flexibility in operating these routes and the over 4,000 additional flights we are planning to operate this year.” 

He reiterated the management’s commitment to the national airline, adding that its new growth strategy was not only beneficial to Air Malta, but the whole country.

Tourism minister Konrad Mizzi said that the growth of Air Malta’s fleet complimented the government's vision turning Air Malta into the airline of the Mediterranean by increasing its route network and flight frequencies.