The new routes include Paphos, Trieste, and Santiago de Compostela — operated by Ryanair and flying twice a week until March.

“While Trieste and Santiago de Compostela have further broadened the airport’s already-extensive route network in two of its top markets; Italy and Spain, Paphos is the second direct connection between Malta and Cyprus,” the Malta airport press statement says.

Malta International Airport will be launching the fourth new route to Niš in Serbia for the season in November.

The post MLA launches winter schedule with new routes first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Malta route to Niš in Serbia, commencing in November, which will operate twice every week, as part of our extended winter 2019 schedule. Customers in Malta can now book flights to Serbia as far out as March 2020,” said David O’Brien, Chief Commercial Officer of Ryanair.

Ryanair’s Malta winter 2019 schedule offers 61 routes in total, including 17 new winter routes to Amman (2 per week), Billund (2), Cardiff (2), Cork (2), Exeter (2), Lamezia (2), Luxembourg (2), Maastricht (2), Nantes (2), Niš (2), Oslo (weekly), Paphos (2), Perugia (2), Rome Fiumicino (daily), Santiago (2), Thessaloniki (2) and Trieste (2) which will deliver over 2.9m customers through Malta airport this year.

The post Ryanair to launch Malta-Serbia route in November first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Volotea will be operating a weekly service to each one of the two cities during the summer months, with the flight to Verona being offered on Tuesdays and the flight to Genoa being a mid-week one.

Despite the fact that both cities are found in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula and are only a three-hour train ride away from each other, their offering is quite different and is likely to capture the imagination of different holidaymakers, the MIA press statement says.

The post Volotea launches flights from Malta to Verona and Genoa first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The inaugural Qatar Airways flight from Doha marked the launch of daily operation for summer as part of Malta International Airport’s new schedule for the season, which features 127 routes. The flag carrier will also be extending this service into the winter months, during which it will be operating four weekly flights, the press statement adds.

“We are delighted to welcome this flag carrier to our airline family and to grow our route network further with the addition of Doha. The convenient flight schedule which will be operated by Qatar Airways throughout the year, will certainly strengthen our connections to the rest of the world and allow tourists from new markets outside Europe to discover Malta’s rich history, unique traditions, and spectacular underwater world,” said Malta International Airport CEO Alan Borg.

“This new airline will continue to enhance connectivity to Malta and strengthen our country’s potential to achieve further growth from the Gulf, South East Asia and Australia in line with the MTA’s diversification strategy,” said Malta Tourism Authority Executive Chairman Gavin Gulia.

“We are delighted to launch direct services to Malta, the latest addition to Qatar Airways’ rapidly expanding European network,” commented His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways Group. “Set against the incredible backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea, Malta, with its stunning natural attractions and breathtaking architecture, is one of Europe’s most historic and culturally significant destinations,” the CEO added.

“With the flexibility of seasonal daily flights in summer, and four-times-weekly services in winter, we look forward to welcoming business and leisure travellers alike on board so that they may experience this charming destination for themselves,” added Mr Al Baker.

Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi said that the introduction of this route complements the government’s vision for tourism as it will provide better market diversification and increased connectivity for Malta.

The new direct services to Malta will have 12 seats in Business Class and 120 seats in Economy Class. Passengers travelling to Malta will also have access to Oryx One, Qatar Airways’ in-flight entertainment system.

Operating from its hub Hamad International Airport, Qatar Airways flies to over 160 destinations across six continents, of which more than 80 are in Asia and the Pacific, the Americas, and Africa. In fact, besides being a point-to-point connection to the capital of Qatar, the new flight to Doha is envisaged to serve as a convenient bridge to popular long-haul destinations such as Bali, Singapore, Los Angeles, and Seychelles.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The present story has been updated with additional quotes and information related to the new service. The updated coverage has been delivered by Manfredi Bertelli.

The post Qatar Airways launches daily Malta-Doha route first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Excavation works will start on an underground link between the multi-storey car park, which is currently under construction, and the existing central car park. At a later stage in the project, a covered walkway will be connecting this link to the terminal building, the press statement writes.

As part of the €20m project due to be finished in 2020, a parking village of 1,300 covered parking spaces on the airport campus is being built. At the same time, car rental companies will also use this area as a centre for their operations.

The rooftop of the parking village will see the installation of a 1,000 kW photovoltaic system, enabling the company to honour its pledge of reducing its carbon footprint, MIA says.

“While this traffic diversion is not expected to have a material impact on the journey up to the terminal building, Malta International Airport would like to apologise for any inconvenience guests may experience as works on this project continue apace,” the press statement says.

The post Construction works to reroute Malta airport’s vehicle traffic first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.