Tag Archives: Malta International Airport

Finnair to add new seasonal service to Athens, Dublin and Malta next summer

Finnair (Helsinki) will add seasonal services from Helsinki to Athens, Dublin and Malta next summer season, with schedules designed for optimal connections with Finnair’s network of Asian destinations. Service to Dublin begins on March 30, Malta on April 2 and Athens on April 5. Service to all three destinations lasts until late October.

Dublin (DUB) will be served six times a week, except Tuesdays, with 100-seat Embraer 190 aircraft operated on behalf of Finnair by Flybe Finland.

Flights to Malta International Airport (MLA) near the Maltese capital Valletta are operated two times a week — Mondays and Thursdays — with Airbus A321 Sharklet aircraft. Athens (ATH) is also served twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, with Airbus A319s or A320s.

In other news, Finnair is extending its network throughout the United Kingdom with new codeshare services from Manchester operated by partner airline Flybe. Effective September 15, the Finnair code will be added to Flybe services from Manchester (MAN) to 10 regional airports: Aberdeen (ABZ), Belfast City (BHD), Edinburgh (EDI), Exeter (EXT), Glasgow (GLA), Inverness (INV), Isle of Man (IOM), Jersey (JER), Newquay (NQY) and Southampton (SOU).

Separately, Finnair also cooperates with Flybe affiliate Flybe Finland, a joint venture between Finnair and Flybe established in 2011. Flybe Finland operates a mixture of contract-flights on behalf of Finnair as well as its own flights around Finland and the Nordic region from its base at Helsinki Airport.

Finnair:

Air Malta celebrates its 40th Anniversary with a 1974 retrojet with a special flight over Malta

Air Malta (www.airmalta.com) (Luqa) has painted its Airbus A320-214 9H-AEI (msn 2189) (above) in the original 1974 livery to celebrate its 40th Anniversary. The airliner was unveiled today with a special flight over the island of Malta:

The airline issued this statement:

Air Malta will this afternoon (April 16) surprise the islands with a freshly-painted aircraft to kick-start its 40th anniversary celebrations.

Air Malta registered aircraft 9H-AEI will be operating flight KM 40, appropriately selected for the occasion, and will be arriving in Malta after being repainted in Ostrava (Czech Republic). The aircraft was on a long-term lease to Interjet in Mexico.

The aircraft will be performing two low flypasts on runway 31 and overfly the island before landing, at around 6 pm.

It will fly over the Grand Harbour, Sliema, the northern coastline of Malta, Mosta, Qrendi and Birzebbugia.

The aircraft will be welcomed at Malta International Airport this evening during an event being hosted by Air Malta.

The first flight, from Malta to London Heathrow, took off on April 1, 1974 (see below). According to the airline, “the passengers onboard the Boeing 720B aircraft were mostly journalists and travel agents flying to meet their British counterparts for a six-hour reception in London. ”