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Air Malta, stylized as airmalta, was a Malta airline headquartered in Luqa and based at Malta International Airport. It operated services as the country's flag carrier to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Air Malta ceased operations on 30 March 2024 and was replaced on the next day with a new flag carrier, KM Malta Airlines.
In the early 1970s, the Maltese government appointed Albert Mizzi as chairman of the airline and made a call for an international airline partner to help set up an airline and Pakistan's flag carrier PIA was selected for this purpose. The name chosen for the new airline was similar to that of its forerunner, Air Malta Co Ltd, and was established on 31 March 1973. BEA was chartered to continue its Malta operations, this time for Air Malta, until Air Malta's first flight on 1 April 1974. The government took over both Malta Airlines and Malta Aviation Services and the private owners were given a shareholding in Air Malta Co. Ltd.
Air Malta started operations, with two wet leased Boeing 720Bs from Pakistan International Airlines that served Rome, Tripoli, London, Manchester, Frankfurt, Dublin for holiday charters, as well as Paris from Malta. It later bought three more Boeing 720Bs and bought the original two.
In 1981, three Boeing 737-200s were wet-leased, which were so successful that in 1983, three new fully owned Boeing 737-200s were delivered. In 1986, Air Malta bought three new Boeing 737-200s, and in 1987 ordered its first Airbus A320. In 1989, Air Malta exercised an option for one more A320, and in 1992, three more Boeing 737-300s were ordered and four Avro RJ70s were ordered for routes to Catania and Palermo, and to new destinations such as Tunis and Monastir.
After the opening of Malta International Airport in 1992, Air Malta created CargoSystems, which includes the transportation of cargo on Air Malta planes. In 1994, Air Malta inaugurated a cargo center at the airport. It was also during this time that a codesharing agreement with Trans World Airlines began.
Air Malta had around 190 interline ticketing agreements with other IATA airlines. According to the Association of European Airlines quarterly review of May 2006, Air Malta was the airline that lost the least amount of passenger baggage. The amount of baggage lost in the first quarter of 2006 was 4.1 bags massing per 1000 passengers.
In winter, the airline often leases out aircraft to maximize earnings during the low season. In September 2007, for instance, Air Malta made two agreements with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways by which Air Malta wet-leased 2 Airbus aircraft to Etihad Airways for the winter period starting 1 September 2007, and provided operational support on another Airbus A320 aircraft leased by Etihad Airways. In January and February 2009 Air Malta wet-leased an A320 to Sky Airline of Chile. From 2011 to 2014 Air Malta wet-leased another A320 to Sky Airline.
In 2012 Air Malta underwent a re-branding process, which caused some controversy as the titles on aircraft and signage only say Malta, omitting the word Air. The airline insisted this was not a name change, and the full name of the airline remains Air Malta. Additionally, the titles on the engines still say airmalta.com. The first plane to show off the new colours was the Airbus A320-200 9H-AEN at the Malta International Airshow 2012. On the second and last day of the show the A320 and a Spitfire performed a flypast as the closing act.
As a commemoration of the airline's 40 years of operation, the airline painted one of its aircraft, 9H-AEI, an A320-200, in retro colours, depicting the livery used on the Boeing 720Bs. The 9H-AEI aircraft debuted on April 16, 2014.
In June 2017, the newly appointed Minister for Tourism announced the restructuring of Air Malta. Watch: No strategic partner before Air Malta is restructured - Konrad Mizzi This was also confirmed by the newly appointed chairman. Air Malta shareholding only after restructuring - Mangion Air Malta then opened a number of new routes, including Tunis, Malaga (reduced to seasonal in 2019), Comiso (terminated after summer 2018), Kyiv, Lisbon, Casablanca, Southend (terminated in 2019) and Cagliari (subsequently reduced to June–September only). Air Malta connects Malta with North Africa again, new scheduled Services to Tunis start 26th of June Manchester and Frankfurt were restarted after being briefly terminated. Air Malta announces Frankfurt flight schedule as from end October
In March 2019, the airline announced that it had made a profit of €1.2 million in the fiscal year of 2018. This profit was the first the airline has made in 18 years.
On 18 April 2023, Chairman David Curmi announced that the European Commission declined to give permission to the Maltese government to inject 290 million euros of state aid into the airline. maltatoday.com.mt (English) 18 April 2023 In 2023, Air Malta incorporated its aircraft with a new livery with red and dark red on the back of the plane. This livery would be subsequently used by the new airline. Also, a competitive process was to be launched for the new airline to acquire the tender for the Air Malta branding which is owned by a government owned company, IP Holdings, which was set up by former minister Konrad Mizzi to transfer assets to show that the company earned a profit in 2018.
On 2 October 2023, the Maltese government announced the closure of Air Malta for 30 March 2024.The Air Malta Story Airliner World July 2024 page 66-71 It was replaced by KM Malta Airlines the following day.Maltese makeover Airliner World Octobe4 2024 pages 88-93
In addition, on 11 September 1990 a Faucett Perú Boeing 727 which had been leased to Air Malta disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean while it was being ferried back to Peru from Malta upon the end of its lease, with 16 presumed fatalities.
Corporate affairs
The head office of the company was at the Skyparks Business Centre, located on the property of Malta International Airport in Luqa." Contact Us ." Air Malta. Retrieved on 21 September 2014. "Head Office Air Malta plc Level 2, Skyparks Business Centre Malta International Airport Luqa, Malta. LQA 4000" In the 1960s and 1970s the head office of its predecessor Malta Airlines was in Sliema. Flight International. 2 April 1964. 519 (
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Archive). " Head Office: Airways House, High Street, Sliema, Malta GC." Flight International. 6 May 1971. p. 636 (
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Archive). "Head office: Airways House, 6-10 High Street, Sliema, Malta."
Codeshare agreements
Air Malta maintained Codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
Fleet
Final fleet
and prior to the closure of operations, Air Malta operated the following aircraft:
+ Air Malta fleet Airbus A320-200 1 — 12 150 162 All transferred to KM Malta Airlines Airbus A320neo 6 — 12 162 174
Former fleet
Air Malta previously also operated the following aircraft types:
+ Air Malta former fleet Airbus A310-300 2 1994 1996 Leased from Lufthansa and Sabena Airbus A319-100 7 2001 2019 Avro RJ70 4 1994 1998 BAC One-Eleven 500 1 1975 1975 Leased from British Caledonian Boeing 720B 7 1978 1989 Boeing 727-200
photos of Air Malta Boeing 727-200 aircraftBoeing 737-200 9 1980 2004 Boeing 737-300 12 1993 2008 Boeing 737-400 4 1998 2000 Boeing 737-500 1 2001 2001 Leased from Maersk Air Boeing 737-700 2 2000 2000 British Aerospace 146-200 1 1993 1993 Leased from British Aerospace British Aerospace ATP 1 1992 1993 Leased from SATA Air Açores Convair 880 1 1977 1979
photo of Air Malta Convair 880 aircraftMcDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 1 1979 1980 Leased from Austrian Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 1 2008 2008 Leased from Hello
Incidents and accidents
Air Malta had no fatal accidents throughout its five decades of operation. Incidents involving Air Malta aircraft include:
See also
External links
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