Air Malta

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Air Malta

IATA KM	ICAO AMC	Callsign AIR MALTA
Founded		1973
Hubs		Malta International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Flypass, KMiles
Member lounge		La Valette
Fleet size		14
Destinations		36
Parent company		Air Malta Plc.
Headquarters		Luqa, Malta
Key people		Lawrence Zammit (Chairman)
Website: http://www.airmalta.com

Air Malta is the national airline of Malta, serving around 50 destinations in Europe and North Africa. The airline is based at Malta International Airport (MLA), at Luqa.

1 History
2 Destinations
3 Notable flight events
4 Fleet
- 4.1 Historical Fleet
5 External links

[edit] History

For many years the Maltese were used to travelling by sea or with foreign (dominantly British) airlines but when Malta obtained its independence, the new government decided to create a new national means of transport. The airline was established on March 21, 1973, when it was created by a resolution of the Malta House of Representatives, set up as a limited liability company and granted a certificate of rights to operate international services from Malta.

Air Malta Boeing 737-300

Air Malta began service on April 1, 1974, with two wet leased Boeing 720s that initially served Rome, Tripoli, London, Manchester, Frankfurt and Paris from Malta's airport.

In 1982, Air Malta signed a purchase contract for 3 new Boeing 737s which were delivered early in 1983. In 1986 Air Malta ordered two new 737s, and in 1987 ordered its first Airbus A320. They then sold the two 720s on their fleet. In 1989, Air Malta exercised an option for one more A320, and in 1992, two more 737s were ordered. That year 4 Avro RJ 70's were ordered, to be put on routes Malta to Catania and Palermo and to new destinations such as Tunis and Monastir.

After the opening of the new Malta International Airport in 1992, Air Malta created CargoSystems, that includes the air transportation of cargo on Air Malta planes. In 1994 Air Malta inaugurated a cargo center at the airport. The airline employs 1763 staff. It is owned by the Maltese government (98%) and private investors (2%). Air Malta also has a 25% shareholding in Medavia. On June 9th 1997, Air Malta flight KM 830 was hijacked.

In July 2002 Air Malta announced that its new fleet of aircraft would be from the European aeroplane manufacturers Airbus. The new fleet compromises of A319s and A320s and deliveries have already begun. The last plane will be delivered in 2007 thus reducing the average age of fleet to around 2.5 years.

Air Malta has concluded over 191 interline ticketing agreements with other IATA airlines. It also has a codeshare agreement with Qantas from Sydney-Singapore-London-Malta.

According to the Association of European Airlines quarterly review of May 2006 Air Malta is the airline that loses 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.

[edit] Destinations

Further information: Air Malta destinations

[edit] Notable flight events

Air Malta flight KM830 was hijacked in June 1997, by two Turks. The hijack ended with no incident in Cologne.

[edit] Fleet

The Air Malta fleet consists of the following aircraft (as at December 2006):

5 Airbus A319-111 9H-AEG (Mdina), 9H-AEH (Floriana), 9H-AEJ (San Pawl il-Baħar), 9H-AEL (Marsaxlokk), 9H-AEM (Birgu - Citta Vittoriosa)
6 Airbus A320-214 9H-AEF (Valletta), 9H-AEI (Rabat - Citta Vittoria), 9H-AEK (San Ġiljan), 9H-AEN (Bormla), 9H-AEO (Isla - Citta Invicta), 9H-AEP (Nadur)
2 Boeing 737-33A 9H-ADH (NOT NAMED), 9H-ADI (NOT NAMED)

Note: 9H-AEN is wet leased to Excel Airways, and 9H-AEO is wet leased to Libyan Arab Airlines. 9H-AEF is wet leased to the Santiago based carrier Sky Airline in Chile.