Christian Borg, Director of Princess Holdings Ltd, and Tommaso Dragotto, President of Sicily by Car, announced the partnership at Montekristo Estates, recently.

“This new partnership will help synergise and take to the next level our offering in car rental by combining the expertise and experience both companies are renowned for, resulting in peace of mind and reassurance to our regular and leasing clients that our service will continue to be the best in the market,” said Mr Borg.

“Both companies share the same passion for providing customers with great value and easy, hassle-free experience. By combining our existing fleet and international airport rental locations with Princess Holdings’ local network, market knowledge and business heritage, we’re pleased we’ll be able to offer customers across the archipelago a growing array of choices and services,” said Mr Dragotto.

Founded in 1963, Sicily by Car S.p.A. has a network of more than 60 offices across Italy as well as being present in major Italian airports. Its fleet counts more than 20,000 vehicles.

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The new service, operated by CMA-CGM and Marfret — French container transportation and shipping companies —, now allows Maltese importers and exporters to connect to Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe), Fort-de-France (Martinique), Houston (US), Veracruz (Mexico) and Puerto Moin (Costa Rica). These five ports come addition to the freeport’s present network to South America, which covers five countries including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay.

“We are delighted to add this new service to our portfolio, which is a reflection of the confidence of transhipment industry in our port which is ideally positioned in the heart of the Mediterranean”, said Alex Montebello, Chief Executive Officer of Malta Freeport Terminals.

“We are also pleased to note that they will be making use of our upgraded reefer facilities in which we have invested considerably over the past year,” adds Mr Montebello. The Malta Freeport offers 1,582 reefer points at its terminals and will be installing a further 180 reefer plugs across three new platforms, in order to handle more perishable cargo.

In addition, the freeport made a €31m investment in 2018 in 15 Kone Rubber-Tyred Gantry Cranes (RTGs) as well as in other yard equipment, including 67 new tractors and trailers.

The Malta Freeport currently provides network links to 115 ports around the world, 59 of which are in the Mediterranean.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The cover picture of the story has been changed to an aerial shot of the Malta Freeport, originally posted on Wikimedia Commons by Alecastorina93.

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The highest number of passengers was recorded in June with 534,433 passengers (33.9% of the total for the quarter). Moreover, the number of vehicles increased by 7.5%, totalling 454,818. 

The number of trips amounted to 6,289, an increase of 8.9% over the same period in 2018. The majority of trips took place again in June, with 36.9% of total trips for the Q2 2019, the NSO figures show. 

Furthermore, during the first six months of this year, passenger traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Friday and Saturday, whereas the highest numbers from Mġarr were recorded on Sunday and Saturday.  

The full report with included charts and tables is available for download at the NSO website.

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The service is available every day between 05:30 and 22:30 on the so-called TD Plus bus. It operates at a limited number of bus stops to be able to offer customers a shorter journey time. These stops are in the following localities: Valletta, Floriana, Pietà, Blata l-Bajda, Msida, San Ġwann, St. Julian’s, Swieqi and Pembroke.

TD Plus allows clients to choose when and where to be picked up from and dropped off. Therefore individuals can book a trip between bus stops without worrying about whether there is space in the bus. Moreover, notifications are sent to alert app users that the bus is on its way.

Every customer has the possibility to book multiple passengers on a single trip and request access for wheelchairs or pushchairs.

The TD Plus fleet includes six new minibuses, which are low floor and fully wheelchair accessible. WiFi is available at no additional cost and seats are equipped with USB charging ports. The minibuses can accommodate up to 16 passengers, according to the press statement.

New tech system

The updated Tallinja app can be downloaded for free from the iPhone App Store and Android Google Play Store. Once in the app, the new service is available by tapping on the TD plus icon.

To provide this service, Malta Public Transport has partnered with Ecolane, an on-demand scheduling and dispatching software company.

In fact, TD Plus uses technology that matches the requests made by different passengers to select the most efficient route. It offers greater flexibility, more comfort and added value while saving time, the service provider says.

During the month of June — as a special introductory offer — the service will be available at €2 per trip when the customer books through the Tallinja App, as the press statement says. The two payment options are Tallinja Card credit or debit/credit card.

The post Malta Public Transport launches new TD Plus service first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Addressing a Malta Aviation Outlook conference, Mr Borg reminded that the sector generates 2.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and creates more than 3,200 jobs. The minister also mentioned the importance of connectivity; Malta recently reached a number of agreements with Japan, South Korea, Ghana and the Ivory Coast and is seeking to reach agreements with a number of countries in South America, including Brazil.

“We could only dream about such success up to a few years ago and we did not achieve it overnight. The achievements we have made in this sector resulted from determination, consistency, proactivity and long-term planning. It is necessary to continue pushing for more and more growth and achievement while ensuring that we have skilled personnel working in this important sector,” Mr Borg said, according to the DOI.

“The government’s commitment will always remain to witness improvements in the economy and in every sector, towards a better quality of life for the people and more success for our businesses and our country,” the transport minister added.

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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.

Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Ian Borg says that as a result of this new call for 170 residential roads divided into six sets, the constructions of a total of 52 kilometres of roads and 85 kilometres of pavements will begin. The works will include investments in the replacement and extension of services where necessary, work on pavements and stormwater systems, foundations, asphalt and even signage, safety systems and other facilities which are added after the road is complete, according to the DOI press statement.

The announcement comes a few weeks after the commencement of works on the first 31 residential roads from the first lot of 120 started after a similar call last year. “We came to visit these roads less than a month since we began works,” minister Borg said when announcing the new progress. “Therefore, today we continue to witness the delivery of this government’s pledge – a pledge which will be financing €700 million for the roads which are used by residents every day. We started with 120 roads, and we are continuing with another 170 roads. We will continue with this work at this pace, and we are working so that everything can be done at the highest standards and quality,” said Mr Borg, according to the DOI.

The list of the 170 roads announced in this tender can be seen in the official press statement by the DOI.

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