Hi Fly Malta

Hi Fly Malta Ltd.
IATA code :	5 M
ICAO code :	HFM
Call sign :	MOONRAKER
Founding:	2013
Seat:	Luqa , Malta
Turnstile :	Lisbon Malta
Home airport :	Malta
Company form:	Ltd.
Fleet size:	15th
Aims:	individually
Website:	hifly.aero

Hi Fly Malta is a Maltese charter airline based in Luqa and based at Malta Airport . It is a subsidiary of the Portuguese Hi Fly .

The airline gained greater fame in summer 2018 as the first follow-up customer of a disused former Airbus A380 scheduled aircraft .

history

The company was founded in 2013 and received its first aircraft, an Airbus A340-600, in June of that year.

Between 2014 and 2015, a total of four Airbus A340s that Hi Fly Malta had taken over from Virgin Atlantic , first to the small airline Al-Naser Airlines from Iraq and then to Mahan Air from Iran. It is noticeable that the machines at the two airlines that were handed over were in the meantime hardly or not at all in operation. At the time of the transfer, Iran was on the sanctions list of western states, so that it was not possible for Iranian companies to purchase western-made aircraft directly from the manufacturer.

On the first two days of February 2020, the Hi Fly Malta A380 was in use for the home transport of European citizens from the coronavirus region of China. The flight led from Wuhan (China) to Istres (southern France). According to the media, around 282 passengers from several European countries were on board the aircraft.

First operation of a used Airbus A380 in wet lease

In August 2017 it became known that the parent company Hi Fly would like to take over two used Airbus A380s . The machines were previously used by Singapore Airlines . As the first operator of this type, the airline took a batch of aircraft of this type out of service for the first time in 2017.

Around July 2018, an A380 was finally taken over by Hi Fly Malta. Hi Fly Malta is the 14th operator of an A380 worldwide and the first to introduce this type with the takeover of a used machine. In addition, the airline is by far the smallest to operate an A380. The aircraft received a "Save the Coral Reefs" special paint scheme, with the left side painted turquoise and the right side dark blue. Like all specially painted machines from Hi Fly and Hi Fly Malta, the A380 advertises the Mirpuri Foundation , a non-governmental organization founded by the Hi-Fly owners , which claims to be involved in climate and marine protection, development cooperation , art promotion and medical as well Air and space research committed.

Airbus A340-300 of Hi Fly Malta with Swiss Space Systems special paint

Airbus A340-300 of Hi Fly Malta

The A380 was brought to Portugal at the end of July. The aircraft was in operation for Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia on August 1 and 2, 2018, and for Norwegian Air UK from August 3 to 23 . From August 24th it was supposed to fly for another three months in the service of Air Austral , but had to be taken out of service after an accident at Charles de Gaulle Airport . This was followed by several months of downtime at Airbus in Toulouse and two further flight assignments for Norwegian on December 23 and 24. Since then, nothing has been known about the machine being sublet. In connection with the operation for Norwegian in 2018, it became known that the flights with the HiFly A380 were each delayed by 3 hours. In October 2018, Norwegian boss Björn Kjos told investors that the plan was to dismantle the wet lease fleet as soon as possible, as renting third-party aircraft was not only expensive but also damaged the brand's reputation.

Also in 2019, Hi Fly Malta operated the Airbus A380 for smaller airlines that have not yet operated this aircraft model, including Air Senegal , Air Madagascar , Corsair International and the Venezuelan airline Estelar Latinoamerica . There was also a flight from London Stansted Airport to Baku . The airport administration of Stansted announced that it was the A380 premiere at the airport there.

Destinations

Like its parent company, Hi Fly Malta operates charter flights and leases its aircraft to other airlines .

fleet

As of July 2019, the Hi Fly Malta fleet consists of 12 aircraft with an average age of 16.0 years; the fleet of two used aircraft is expected:

Aircraft type	number	Aircraft registration	Remarks	Seats ( Business / Economy )
Airbus A319-100	3	9H-XFW 9H-TLS 9H-LOL	Former Germania machines , in service since 2019
Airbus A330-200	2	9H-HFA 9H-HFB	Year of construction 2008; leased from DAE Capital; intended flooding
Airbus A330-300	1	9H-AGU	oldest machine in the fleet, built in 1995; 06/2018 adopted; previously many years at the parent company Hi Fly in use
Airbus A330-900	1	9H-SZN	first brand new machine; Fleet in March 2019, operated for Air Senegal
Airbus A340-300	6th	9H-AGJ 9H-AGK	former Emirates and Singapore Airlines planes ; inactive	295 (24/271)
		9H-FOX	Former Emirates and Singapore Airlines planes	295 (24/271)
		9H-JAI	former Emirates and Singapore Airlines planes; operated by Estelar Latinoamerica	295 (24/271)
		9H-SUN		295 (24/271)
		9H-SOL
Airbus A380-800	1	9H-MIP	former machine of Singapore Airlines, year of manufacture 11/2006, first delivery 03/2008; leased from Doric, taken over 07/2018; Special paint "Save the Coral Reefs"	471 (12/60/399)
Bombardier Challenger 604	1	9H-MIR	Business jet, built in 1998, taken over on 11/2014, former machine from General Electric	22nd
total	15th

Incidents

• On September 8, 2018, the Airbus A380-800 operated for Air Austral collided with a gangway while being towed at Charles de Gaulle Airport , damaging one of the aircraft's engines. No one was injured, but the machine had to be taken out of service until further notice.

See also

• List of airlines

Web links

Commons : Hi Fly Malta  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Hi Fly website (Portuguese, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rzjets, Hi Fly Malta, Airbus A340-642, 9H-SEA (in English), accessed on March 7, 2018
2. ↑ Former Hi Fly Malta Planespotters A340 aircraft , accessed on March 22, 2019.
3. ↑ Hi Fly: Portuguese airline takes delivery of two A380 | aeroTELEGRAPH . In: aeroTELEGRAPH . August 26, 2017 ( aerotelegraph.com [accessed August 27, 2017]).
4. ↑ http://mirpurifoundation.org/ Mirpuri Foundation , accessed September 9, 2018.
5. ↑ http://www.airliners.de/das-comeback-a380-leasing- Background/ 46313
6. ↑ https://simpleflying.com/norwegian-leases-hifly-a380/
7. ↑ https://simpleflying.com/how-much-money-will-norwegian-lose-operating-the-hifly-a380/
8. ↑ https://www.aero.de/news-30255/Norwegian-will-unabhaengiger-vom-Wet-Lease- Werden.html
9. ↑ Small airline helps Venezuela with A380 premiere , Aerotelegraph from July 15, 2019.
10. ↑ hifly.aero - Wet-Leasing (English), accessed on June 28, 2017
11. ↑ ch-aviation - Hi Fly Malta (English), accessed on November 9, 2018
12. ↑ hifly.aero - Fleet ( Memento of the original dated August 7, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 4, 2018 
13. ↑ Operating history of the Airbus A330-300, 9H-AGU planespotters (English), accessed on March 22, 2019.
14. ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/hi-fly-to-introduce-471-seat-a380-by-mid-year-447342/
15. ↑ https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/9H-MIR/542767
16. ↑ https://reunion.orange.fr/actu/reunion/air-austral-collision-entre-un-l-a380-et-une-passerelle-des-vols.html
17. ↑ https://www.aerotelegraph.com/a380-von-hi-fly-erleidet-schleppschaden