Malta airport

Malta International Airport
Characteristics
ICAO code	LMML
IATA code	MLA
Coordinates	35 ° 51 '27 "  N , 14 ° 28' 39"  E Coordinates: 35 ° 51 '27 "  N , 14 ° 28' 39"  E
Height above MSL	91 m (299  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	5 km southwest of Valletta , 1 km west of Gudja
Street	Aviation StraBe, Gudja
Local transport	Bus routes 117, 119, 135, 201, X1, X2, X3, X4
Basic data
opening	March 31, 1958
operator	Malta International Airport plc. (MIA)
Terminals	1
Passengers	7,310,289 (2019)
Air freight	18,498 t (2019)
Flight movements	51,910 (2019)
Capacity ( PAX per year)	5 million
Employees	3,800
Runways
05/23	2377 m × 45 m asphalt
13/31	3544 m × 60 m asphalt

The Malta International Airport ( IATA code MLA , ICAO code LMML ) is the only international airport of the State of Malta . It is located near the town of Luqa and is the home base and hub of Air Malta and has been a base for Ryanair since 2010 .

history

The history of the airport goes back to the first decades of the 20th century. The first airfields on Malta were of a military nature due to the strategically important location of the island; but the first civil flights took place as early as the 1920s.

The airport, which was later rebuilt and expanded several times, was an important British military airfield during World War II . The Royal Air Force Station Luqa , RAF Luqa for short, housed the headquarters of the Mediterranean Command . During the siege of Malta by the Axis Powers from 1941 to 1943, it gained strategic importance for the Allies in the struggle for naval supremacy in the Mediterranean and North Africa . In addition to Luqa as the main base, there were other smaller RAF stations in Ta'Qali and Ħal-Far , the latter being the first airfield in Malta to be opened in 1929 as the Royal Navy's HMS Falcon aviation base . There were also secondary airports at Safi , Qrendi and Gozo .

After the war, RAF Luqa temporarily gained strategic importance for the British during the Suez Crisis in 1956 . During the past decades under British command, the RAF had stationed Shackleton and Nimrod maritime patrols here. After independence from the UK in 1974 and the withdrawal of the Royal Air Force, the airport was handed over to local authorities in 1979.

Civil shared use began as early as the days of the RAF. The first passenger terminal was opened on March 31, 1958, and a new runway was added in October 1977. A new terminal was planned from 1987 and opened in February 1992. In its basement is the Roman Catholic airport chapel Sidtna tal-Mitjar - Our Lady of the Airways , where up to three Holy Masses take place daily.

Operators and handling companies

The airport operator is the listed Malta International Airport plc. (MIA), in which Flughafen Wien AG has also had a stake since 2002 in addition to the Maltese state .

On handling companies are represented Air Malta as self-handlers and third party handlers for some other airlines, as well as Aviaserve Ltd. for other airlines.

Lufthansa Technik Malta

Lufthansa Technik Malta , founded in 2002 as a joint venture between Air Malta and Lufthansa Technik , provides MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) services for aircraft. The company employs 450 people and in April 2009 put two new hangars into operation at Malta Airport for the maintenance of large-capacity Airbus A330 / A340 aircraft (as of summer 2016).

Incidents

• On December 2, 1946, an Avro York C.1 of the Royal Air Force ( aircraft registration number MW268 ) touched down in front of the runway at Malta-Luqa Airport and was irreparably damaged. All inmates survived.

• On May 24, 1947 Avro York C.1 became the Royal Air Force (MW190) while approaching the Malta-Luqa airport in a Fallbö , sat in front of the runway and was damaged beyond repair. All occupants survived the accident.

• On April 13, 1954, an Avro York C.1 of Scottish Airlines (G-AMUM) had an accident at Malta-Luqa airport. The starter of one of the engines was defective. So the captain came up with the idea of ​​starting this engine by accelerating the propeller when rolling with the airstream. This actually succeeded, but only so shortly before the end of the runway that it quickly rolled over and the aircraft was irreparably damaged. All 3 crew members survived the mishap.

• On February 18, 1956, the Avro York G-ANSY of Scottish Airlines crashed shortly after take-off from Malta Airport after an engine failure. All 50 people on board were killed.

• On May 20, 1958, an Avro York C.1 of the British Dan-Air (G-AMUT) touched down late on landing at Malta Airport and rolled over the end of the runway. The landing gear was retracted to bring the aircraft to a standstill. The machine collided with a wall and was irreparably damaged. All three crew members on the cargo flight survived.

• On January 5, 1960, the hydraulic system of a Vickers Viscount 701 of British European Airways (BEA) (G-AMNY) failed after touching down at the destination airport in Malta, and with it the brakes and the nose wheel control. On the sloping terrain, the machine rolled against the control tower. None of the 51 occupants was harmed, but the aircraft was ready for scrap.

• On November 23, 1985, the hijacked Boeing 737-266 SU-AYH of Egyptair landed . After the terrorists shot two hostages at Malta Airport, another 58 people died in the storm. The machine was destroyed (see also Egypt Air Flight 648 ) .

• On October 24, 2016, a Fairchild Swearingen Metro (N577MX) crashed shortly after take-off, killing all five people on board. The machine was used on behalf of French customs to control the people smuggling route from the Libyan coast to Europe. The machine was registered in the USA and leased to a company in Luxembourg .

Web links

Commons : Malta International Airport  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the airport

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Malta Public Transport network map , accessed on September 10, 2016
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Malta International Airport - Annual Statistical Summary 2019. Malta International Airport, accessed on June 24, 2020 (English). 
3. ↑ About the Airport - Facts and Figures (English), accessed on September 5, 2016
4. ↑ Passenger Services - Chapel , accessed September 5, 2016
5. ↑ Air Malta - Ground Handling , accessed on May 6, 2017
6. ↑ Aviaserve - Airlines Served , accessed on May 6, 2017
7. ↑ Lufthansa Technik Malta , accessed on September 5, 2016
8. ↑ accident report Avro York MW268 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 6, 2020th
9. ↑ accident report Avro York MW190 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 6, 2020th
10. ^ Accident report Avro York G-AMUM , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 27, 2019.
11. ^ Accident report Avro York G-ANSY , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on September 5, 2016.
12. ^ Accident report Avro York G-AMUT , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 5, 2020.
13. ^ Accident report Viscount 701 G-AMNY , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 10, 2018.
14. ^ Accident report B-737-200 SU-AYH , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on September 5, 2016.
15. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg Germany: Accident after take-off: Small plane crashed at Malta Airport. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. Retrieved October 24, 2016 . 
16. ↑ accident report SA227-AT N577MX , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 1 December 2016th