Air Malta

Air Malta plc (stylized as airmalta) is the flag carrier airline of Malta, with its headquarters in Luqa and its hub at Malta International Airport. It operates services to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Not to be confused with Malta Air.

Air Malta
IATA ICAO Callsign
KM AMC AIR MALTA
Founded1973 (1973)
AOC #MT-01
HubsMalta International Airport
Frequent-flyer programFlypass
KMiles
Fleet size10
Destinations39
HeadquartersLuqa, Malta
Key peopleClifford Chetcuti (CEO)
Charles Mangion (Chairman)
Websiteairmalta.com

History
Air Malta leased its first Boeing 720B's in 1974 and they were joined by another three a few years later.
Once a mainstay of the fleet, the Boeing 737-200 series has since been phased out, seen here at London Heathrow Airport in 1983.

Early years

Shortly after the Second World War, several small private airlines were formed in Malta. Amongst these were The Malta Instone Airline, BAS (Malta) Ltd, and Malta Airlines. In 1947 the former two companies merged to form Air Malta Ltd in fierce competition with the latter. Eventually in 1951 Malta Airlines absorbed the operations of Air Malta Ltd and continued operating through an agreement with BEA until 1973. The owners of Air Malta Ltd used their real estate, staff, and equipment to set up a ground handling company called MAS, Malta Aviation Services.

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. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), then regarded as Asia's best airline, was selected and a new carrier set up. 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. Both Malta Airlines and Malta Aviation Services were taken over by the government and the private owners were given a shareholding in Air Malta Co. Ltd.

Air Malta started operations, with 2 wet leased Boeing 720Bs that served Rome, Tripoli, London, Manchester, Frankfurt, and Paris from Malta. It later bought 3 more Boeing 720Bs and bought the original two.

In 1981, 3 Boeing 737-200s were wet leased, which were so successful that in 1983, 3 new fully owned Boeing 737-200s were delivered. In 1986, Air Malta bought 3 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, 3 more Boeing 737-300s were ordered and 4 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.

Development since the 2000s
An Air Malta Airbus A320-200 wearing the former livery in 2007

Between 2002 and 2007, Air Malta embarked upon a fleet replacement programme, opting to change all aircraft to Airbus A319s and A320s. The last aircraft in this order, an A320, was delivered on 22 March 2007, and the fleet has not been replaced since.

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 is 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 missing per 1000 passengers.

In winter, the airline often leases out aircraft to maximise 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.[1]

In June 2017, the newly appointed Minister for Tourism announced the restructuring of Air Malta.[2] This was also confirmed by the newly appointed chairman.[3] Air Malta then opened a number of new routes, including Tunis, Malaga (reduced to seasonal in 2019), Comiso (terminated after summer 2018), Kiev, Lisbon, Casablanca, Southend (terminated in 2019) and Cagliari (subsequently reduced to June–September only).[4] Manchester and Frankfurt were restarted after being briefly terminated.[5]

In March 2019, the airline announced that it had made a profit of €1.2 million in the fiscal year of 2018. This profit is the first the airline has made in 18 years.[6]

On 1 April 2019, Air Malta celebrated 45 years since it commenced its first operations. Currently the airline is restructuring, and aims to increase its fleet to 14 aircraft.[7] The restructuring plans include the replacement of the current fleet with newer Airbus A320 Neo aircraft, as well as inaugural flights to Asia and North America with Airbus A321LR aircraft.[8][9]

Dispute with local unions, media and COVID-19 Impact

Post COVID-19 , Air Malta has been known to struggling financially and is no stranger to controversy . Air Malta was reportedly facing a loss Of €30 Million, a year after recording profit for first time In 18 years. Redundancies are currently in the pipeline as Air Malta faces uncertainty and it plans to lay off a large chunk of its workforce. According to a Times of Malta article dated on the 24th of April 2020, ALPA, which is the union's airline pilot association refused outright an offer placed for its pilots to be set on a 1200 Euros monthly pay due to COVID-19's impact on shutting down the international airport in Malta which happened on the 3rd of May and bringing visitors levels to below 0.2% affecting Air Malta directly.

Air Malta has been mentioned in local media outlets various times for having controversial debates and heated exchanges with local unions representing both pilots and cabin crew.

Economy minister Silvio Schembri responsible for Air Malta before predecessor Konrad Mizzi accused ALPA of trying to "Hijack the Airline" to secure higher wages for pilots as mentioned in a 2020 Times of Malta article.

Corporate affairs

The head office of the company is on Level 2 of the Skyparks Business Centre, located on the property of Malta International Airport in Luqa.[10] In the 1960s and 1970s the head office of predecessor Malta Airlines was in Sliema.[11][12]

Destinations
Main article: List of Air Malta destinations

Codeshare agreements

Air Malta codeshares with the following airlines:[13]

Fleet
Air Malta Airbus A320-200
Air Malta Airbus A320neo

Current fleet

As of December 2019, Air Malta operates the following aircraft:[16][17][18]

Air Malta Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
J Y Total
Airbus A320-200 6 — 8 156 164
— 168 168
Airbus A320neo 3 — 8 168 176
Total 9 —

Former fleet

Air Malta previously operated the following aircraft:

Incidents and accidents

Since its inception in 1973, Air Malta has had no fatal accidents.

References
  1. Interview - Staff numbers
  2. Watch: No strategic partner before Air Malta is restructured - Konrad Mizzi
  3. Air Malta shareholding only after restructuring - Mangion
  4. Air Malta connects Malta with North Africa again, new scheduled Services to Tunis start 26th of June
  5. Air Malta announces Frankfurt flight schedule as from end October
  6. https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/air-malta-registers-profit-but-not-out-of-the-woods-yet.705319
  7. https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinrivers/2019/02/13/air-malta-outlines-5-year-fleet-plan-including-a321xlr/#2474f306357a
  8. https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/air-malta-eyes-new-york-toronto-mumbai-services-using-extended-range.696290
  9. http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2019-03-23/local-news/Air-Malta-turns-10-8m-loss-into-1-2m-profit-in-year-ending-March-2018-6736205539
  10. "Contact Us Archived 2 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine." Air Malta. Retrieved on 21 September 2014. "Head Office Air Malta plc Level 2, Skyparks Business Centre Malta International Airport Luqa, Malta. LQA 4000"
  11. Flight International. 2 April 1964. 519 (Archive). "Head Office: Airways House, High Street, Sliema, Malta GC."
  12. Flight International. 6 May 1971. p. 636 (Archive). "Head office: Airways House, 6-10 High Street, Sliema, Malta."
  13. "Airmalta Partners". www.airmalta.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  14. Liu, Jim (20 April 2018). "airmalta / airBaltic begins codeshare service in S18". Routesonline. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  15. Liu, Jim (24 April 2019). "airBaltic / airmalta expands codeshare network from April 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  16. "List of Registered Aircraft". www.transport.gov.mt. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  17. "Air Malta Fleet Details and History". m.planespotters.net. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  18. "Air Malta Fleet | Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  19. https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/82389-air-malta-retires-last-a319
  20. "World Airline Directory". Flight International. 29 March 1995. p. 50.
  21. "World Airline Directory". Flight International. 22 April 1978. p. 1130.
  22. "World Airline Directory". Flight International. 24 March 1999. p. 46.
  23. Bombing description at the Aviation Safety Network
  24. "Air Malta flight almost ended on Lockerbie style".
  25. "TVM News report regarding hijackings in Malta".
  26. "Air Malta Flight 830 Report". Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.

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