Malta International Airport

Luqa airfield in 1941

The first civil airfield was constructed at Ta' Qali, followed by others at Ħal Far (RAF Hal Far) and Luqa. During the Second World War, the airfields at Ta' Qali and Hal Far were severely battered and civil operations subsequently centred on Luqa Airport.[3]

The increase in passenger handling and aircraft movements necessitated the construction of a civil air terminal. Preparations started in 1956 and the British Government mainly financed what was then a Lm 300,000 project. Malta's new passenger air terminal at Luqa was inaugurated on 31 March 1958 by the then Governor of Malta Sir Robert Laycock. The air terminal consisted of two floors including some basic facilities such as a restaurant, a post office, a cable and wireless office and a viewing balcony for the public.

In October 1977, a new and longer runway was launched and works commenced on the extension and refurbishment of the air terminal.[3] An arrivals lounge and another lounge dedicated to VIPs were added and the original part of the terminal building was used for departures.

This refurbishment was not enough as it still lacked certain essential facilities. Immediately after a change in Government in 1987, the new administration decided that the 35-year-old terminal was past its time (Luqa Terminal) and therefore gave the green light for the construction of a new air terminal along Park 9 (Now located in Gudja).

Until the construction of the new air terminal was completed, the Government embarked on a further upgrade of the old air terminal. The facilities introduced included air conditioning, new baggage carousels, flight information monitors, computerised check-in desks, a new floor surface and new retail outlets including a larger duty-free area.

The foundation stone of the present air terminal in Gudja was laid in September 1989 and it was inaugurated in record time 29 months later, in February 1992. Malta International Airport became fully operational on 25 March 1992 and the old Luqa passenger terminal was effectively closed down after 35 years.[4]

Over the last several years, passenger numbers have been increasing, climbing from 3.5 million in 2011 to 6.0 million in 2017.[5] The increase in passenger numbers is mainly due to the increased number of routes served by low-cost carriers. Ryanair based one aircraft in Malta from May 2010, increasing to two in May 2012, three in March 2016, four in March 2017, five in March 2018 and further to six in April 2019.[6] The largest aircraft visiting Malta International Airport regularly is the daily Emirates Boeing 777-300. The airport has received occasional visits by the Airbus A380, usually for repainting at one of the local maintenance facilities.[7]

The Air Wing of the Armed Forces of Malta is based at Malta International Airport. The Air Wing terminal consists of six hangars. The Air Wing operates a total of 8 fixed-wing aircraft and 6 helicopters.

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Malta:[14]

Arrivals area

Apron view of the main building

EgyptAir Boeing 707 at Malta International Airport in 1985

See source Wikidata query.

Busiest routes

Busiest International Routes out of Malta International Airport (2017)[40]

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	Airlines	% Change (vs 2016)
1	London Gatwick Airport	379,000	Air Malta, British Airways, EasyJet, TUI Airways	9.7
2	Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport	313,000	Air Malta, Alitalia, Ryanair	1.0
3	Frankfurt Airport	300,000	Air Malta, Lufthansa	11.0
4	Catania Airport	289,000	Air Malta, Ryanair	53.4
5	Brussels Airport	240,000	Air Malta, Ryanair	109.6
6	Munich Airport	215,000	Air Malta, Lufthansa, Niki	44.0
7	Manchester Airport	215,000	Air Malta, EasyJet, Jet2.com, Ryanair, TUI Airways	0.1
8	London Heathrow Airport	193,000	Air Malta	2.5
9	Istanbul Atatürk Airport	150,000	Turkish Airlines	12.8
10	Paris Orly Airport	126,000	Air Malta, Transavia France	0.9

Busiest airlines

Top 10 Passenger Airlines out of Malta International Airport (2016)[5]

Rank	Airline	Passengers	% Change (vs 2015)
1	Ryanair	1,731,881	41.30
2	Air Malta	1,600,408	7.47
3	EasyJet	279,266	15.75
4	Lufthansa	230,965	7.21
5	Wizz Air	177,420	17.33
6	Turkish Airlines	132,521	11.98
7	Alitalia	111,504	24.91
8	Emirates	88,329	3.45
9	British Airways	80,024	0.97
10	Vueling	73,131	8.28

• On 5 January 1960, Vickers Viscount G-AMNY of British European Airways was damaged beyond economic repair at Luqa when it departed the runway after landing following a loss of hydraulic pressure.[42]
• On 25 November 1973, Luqa Airport witnessed the landing of KLM Flight 861. The aircraft, named "Mississippi", was a Boeing 747 hijacked by three young Arabs over Iraqi airspace on a scheduled Amsterdam-Tokyo flight with 247 passengers on board, after the hijackers threatened to blow up the plane when no country would grant landing permission. Most of the passengers and the eight stewardesses were released after negotiations with the Maltese Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, who argued with the hijackers that the plane could not possibly take off with both the passengers and the 27,000 gallons of fuel they had demanded, given the (then) short runway. With 11 passengers on board the jumbo jet left Malta to Dubai, where the incident ended without fatalities.[43] The hijack was claimed by the Arab Nationalist Youth Organization.
• On 23 November 1985, Luqa Airport was the scene of one of the deadliest aircraft hijackings in aviation history before the September 11 attacks.[44] EgyptAir Flight 648 was forced to land in Malta en–route to Libya. Unit 777 of the Egyptian counter-terrorism forces was dispatched to deal with the incident. Storming of the Boeing 737, reluctantly authorised by Maltese officials after five hostages were shot, resulted in the death of over 60 passengers plus several security personnel and aircrew as well as the hijackers, members of the Abu Nidal Organization.
• Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted for the Lockerbie bombing on the theory that he loaded a bomb onto Air Malta Flight KM180 Malta-Frankfurt at Luqa Airport which it is alleged found its way via the interline baggage system onto Pan Am Feeder Flight 103A Frankfurt-London and eventually onto Pan Am Flight 103 London -New York.
• MLA was the origin airport of the Air Malta Flight 830 Malta-Istanbul hijack which ended in Cologne.
• On 21 February 2011, two Libyan fighter pilots, both claiming to be colonels, defected and landed their Mirage F1 jets at the airport after refusing to carry out orders to fire upon a group of civilian Libyan protesters in Tripoli. On the same day two Eurocopter Super Puma helicopters registered in France also landed carrying seven French nationals who were under Italian contracts to work in Libya.[45][46]
• On 24 October 2016, a CAE Aviation Fairchild Merlin twin turboprop crashed on take-off a short distance from the runway. All five people on board were killed. The aircraft was taking part in a French-led surveillance operation to counter people smuggling.[47][48]
• On 23 December 2016 Afriqiyah Airways Flight 209, operated by an Airbus A320, was hijacked while en route from Sabha Airport to Tripoli International Airport in Libya, and diverted to Malta International.

Media related to Malta International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for LMML at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for MLA at Aviation Safety Network