The airline of the Maltese Islands: Air Malta

Founded in 1973, Air Malta began its operations serving the routes of Manchester, Paris, Tripoli, London and Frankfurt, with a modest fleet of two wet leased Boeing 720Bs. Within a short period, the airline purchased three more Boeing 720Bs, and within a decade, the airline had fully purchased three new Boeing 737-200s due to its rapid success. By 1997, the company's fleet had expanded considerably and new routes to Catania, Palermo, Monastir and Tunis had been established.

Over a five-year period between 2002 and 2007, the airline gradually replaced their fleet with Airbus A319s and 20s. Air Malta has also entered into a codeshare agreement -- where several airlines share the same flight -- with a host of prominent airlines, and in 2006, according to the Association of European Airlines, this airline loses the least amount of passenger baggage of all airlines.

Today, the airline serves the routes to more than 35 destinations and has a fleet of eight Airbus A319-100 and Airbus A320-200. According to the Times of Malta, the airline employs twice as many staff per plane as airlines of a comparable size, and it employs more than 150 staff in total.

Flying with Air Malta

The airline's standard Economy Class includes a free-of-charge light snack, a 20 kg luggage allowance and the option to check-in online for convenience. Upgrade to the Best Value or Spoil Yourself package and enjoy infant discounts, extra luggage allowance and refunds in the event of cancellation. Business Class travellers enjoy the excellent onboard cuisine, complimentary drinks including champagne, wide comfortable seats in a separate cabin, later check-in, generous luggage allowance and access to the airport's La Valette Lounge. A Business Anytime ticket guarantees even greater benefits, such as cancellation or amendment being free of charge. In addition, regular travellers with Air Malta can take advantage of FlyPass, where existing customers can earn Kmiles with every flight.

Practical Information

Online checkin, and using your mobile phone for this purpose, is permitted up to one hour before the time of departure. Alternatively, check-in at the kiosk up to two hours before the scheduled time of departure.

Luggage:

• One piece of 20 kg free baggage allowance with Simply fly and Best Value Tickets.
• Two Pieces of 20 kg free baggage allowance with Spoil Yourself, Business Basic and Business Value Tickets.
• Two Pieces of 32 kg free baggage allowance with Business Anytime tickets.
• For more information on baggage allowance rules, see