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AIR MALTA HISTORY - FLIGHTS
TO MALTA
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Air
Malta was set up by a Resolution of the House of Representatives on
21 March 1973 and was registered as a limited liability company on
30 March 1973.
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In
the words of its charter, Air Malta's primary aim is to establish,
maintain, develop and operate air transport services to and from the
island which, by the carriage of passengers, freight and mail, serve
the national interest.
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Air
Malta started flying operations with 2 wet leased Boeing 720BS on
1st April 1974 with scheduled services to London, Birmingham,
Manchester, Rome, Frankfurt, Paris and Tripoli. Its schedule now
serves more than 45 destinations in Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East and the company fully owns 11 aircraft.
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Air
Malta's current fleet is one of the youngest in Europe. Our state of
the art equipment includes two Airbus A320, one Airbus A319, one
Boeing 737-500, seven Boeing 737-300, two Boeing 737-200.
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The
first brand new aircraft, three Boeing B737-200 Advanced, were
purchased on the 30th March 1982 and delivered in March 1983.
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In
August 1986 Air Malta purchased two more B737-200As, which were
delivered in July 1987. The purchase was financed through a
US$40-million credit facility from a consortium of ten international
banks.
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Early
in 1987 another two agreements were signed: one for delivery of an
Airbus A320-200 airliner, delivered in August 1990, and another for
the sixth B737-200A, delivered in March 1988. Also in 1987 Air Malta
sold two B720Bs, leaving just one in the fleet.
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In
March 1989 the airline purchased a second A320-200, delivered in
March 1992, and took out an option on a third. The following month
it ordered three new Boeing 737-300 aircraft for delivery in
Spring1993. The last remaining B720B was withdrawn from the fleet
late in 1989 and sold shortly thereafter.
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Within
six months after taking delivery of its first three B737 aircraft,
the Maltese flag-carrier established a world record with the highest
utilisation for all operators of the aircraft type: 14.9 hours per
aircraft per day in September 1983.
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In
January 1994 ordered four RJ70 Avroliners from Avro International
Aerospace, for delivery between September 1994 and March 1995.
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Subsidiary
companies include Air Supplies and Catering Co. Ltd who provide duty
free goods as well as Air Charter that operates the inter-island
helicopter service.
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Last
year Air Malta carried a record 1,775,883 passengers (210,000 more
than the previous year), gaining 4.6 percentage points in market
share. Scheduled services achieved a growth of 23% in passengers
carried, building further on the 12% increase recorded in the
previous year.
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Over
its 25 year history, invested millions of Liri in airline personnel,
carried more than 25 million passengers, flew more than 100 million
kilos of cargo, earned Lm 1 billion in revenue, insured cumulative
tax charge of Lm 25 million and paid back its share holders over and
over again in the form of dividends. Flights
to Malta.
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