Aviation & Ships Spotting in Malta

Air Malta was set up by a Resolution of Malta's House of Representatives on March 21st, 1973 and was registered as a limited liability company on March 30th, 1973.  The previous day, the Prime Minister, as Minister for Civil Aviation, had granted the company an Air Service Licence valid for ten years with effect from April 1st, 1973.  The licence was granted subject to the condition that the substantial ownership and effective control of the airline would, at all times, be held and exercised by the Government of Malta and/or by citizens of Malta and/or by companies incorporated under the laws of Malta and controlled by citizens of Malta. 

Air Malta was formed with the assistance of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).  The share capital was authorised at Lm750,000 of which Lm530,000 were issued - 51% by Air Malta and 20% by PIA.  The rest, 29% of the capital share, was initially unsubsribed.  On January 24th, 1975 Malta Airlines took 5%, while Malta Aviation Services Ltd. took up 1% of the unsubscribed shareholding in Air Malta.  On August 11th, 1975, the Government raised the shareholding capital of the company to Lm1,250,000 in order to increase the working capital.  At the same time the authorised share capital was called up, with the Government subscribing 76.4%, PIA 20%, Intercontinental Services (formerly Malta Airlines) 3% and Cassar & Cooper Holdings Ltd. (formerly Malta Aviation Services Ltd.) 0.6% of the shares of Air Malta.  In November and December 1985 Middle Sea Insurance purchased the shares owned by both Intercontinental Services and Cassar & Cooper Holdings Ltd.  The Maltese Government exercised the option to purchase PIA's shares in the company in November 1980, thus resulting in the State owing 96.4% of the equity. 

Air Malta started flying operations with two wet-leased Boeing 720Bs (AP-AMG, AP-AMJ) from PIA on April 1st, 1974, with scheduled services to London, Birmingham, Manchester, Rome, Frankfurt, Paris and Tripoli.  By 1979, Air Malta owned five aircraft: the two B720Bs which were wet-leased from PIA - purchased on March 31st, 1979 (re-registered as 9H-AAM, 9H-AAN) - and a further three B720Bs purchased from Western Airlines (9H-AAK, 9H-AAL, 9H-AAO).  

On March 30th, 1982 Air Malta ordered her first brand new aircraft, with signing of a purchase agreement with Boeing Company for three Boeing B737-200 Advanced.  With the delivery of the B737-200s in March 1983 (9H-ABA, 9H-ABB, 9H-ABC) - coinciding with the airline's tenth anniversary celebrations - Air Malta unveiled a new aircraft livery, being a slight alteration of the original colour scheme. 

In August 1986 Air Malta purchased two more B737-200As which were delivered in July 1987 (9H-ABE, 9H-ABF).  The purchase was financed through a US$40-million credit facility from a consortium of ten international banks.  This was the first-ever international financing for a Maltese borrower, and it was a source of considerable satisfaction to Air Malta that the loan, mandated to Chase Investment Bank, was oversubscribed in syndication.

Early in 1987 Air Malta signed two other agreements: one for delivery of an Airbus A320-200 airliner, delivered on August 30th, 1990 (9H-ABP), and another for the sixth B737-200A, delivered on March 18th, 1988 (9H-ABG).  In March 1989 the airline exercised its option for a second A320-200, delivered on March 27th, 1992 (9H-ABQ).  The following month Air Malta ordered three new Boeing 737-300 aircraft, delivered in March, April and May 1993 (9H-ABR, 9H-ABS, 9H-ABT).  The 1990s brought about a new corporate image for Air Malta, when it introduced her third aircraft colour scheme in December 1989.  This third colour scheme is still being adorned by the present Air Malta aircraft.

In January 1994 Air Malta ordered four RJ70 Avroliners from Avro International Aerospace for its operations, delivered between September 1994 and March 1995 (9H-ACM, 9H-ACN, 9H-ACO, 9H-ACP).  The package deal included the replacement of four Air Malta Boeing 737-200A aircraft.  The usage of the Avroliners on Air Malta flight operations was however shortlived, because in mid-early 1997, Air Malta Group decided to abandon the hub strategy which had been initiated by the previous management and to dispose of the aircraft.  Air Malta disposed of the four RJ70s by leasing them to its italian-based subsidiary Azzurra Air (49.1% of its stake owned by Air Malta).  All four RJ70s were delivered to Azzurra Air between October 1997 and March 1998 re-registered as EI-COQ (ex 9H-ACM), EI-CPL (ex 9H-ACP), EI-CPJ (ex 9H-ACN) and EI-CPK (ex 9H-ACO).  These augmented the three new Avro RJ85s purchased by Air Malta and leased to Azzurra Air in 1996.  The thre RJ85s were delivered to Azzurra Air between November 1996 and May 1997 (EI-CNI, EI-CNJ, EI-CNK).

In July 2002 Air Malta concluded a multi-million dollar agreement which involved International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), Airbus and CFM International for the renewal of its fleet over a four-and-a-half-year period.  Two major elements of the deal involved the sale and lease back from ILFC of Air Malta’s own two A320-200s (9H-ABP, 9H-ABQ) and three B737-300s (9H-ABR, 9H-ABS, 9H-ABT), and the dry lease of twelve new aircraft from the Airbus A320 family, powered by CFM engines, for a term of twelve years each with an option to buy at the termination of the lease.  The first of these new leased aircraft, an A320 (9H-AEF), was delivered on October 31st, 2003 and the last, an A320 (9H-AEQ), was delivered on March 22nd, 2007.  In total, seven A320s and five A319s were delivered.

In September 2002, Air Malta concluded a sale and lease back package of its 'owned' seven Avroliners (four RJ70s and three RJ85s) with BAE Systems in conjunction with the HSBC Bank (to manage the dry-lease of the Avroliners to Air Malta).  As per the package concluded, Air Malta dry-leased back the seven Avroliners - to be kept sub-leased by Air Malta to italian-based subsidiary Azzurra Air - for periods with staggered expiry dates up to May 2008.  Besides dry-leasing back all RJs, the national airline had also re-purchase option rights.

In December 2003, Air Malta Group terminated the lease of the four Avro RJ70s and three Avro RJ85s with Azzurra Air, because Azzurra Air were said to be in default with the aircrafts' lease obligations.  Consequently, Air Malta re-possessed the seven Avroliners and flew them - with the aid of hired crew - to Exeter, U.K., for temporary storage with the sole intention of marketing all seven aircraft - deemed not suitable for Air Malta's strategy.  Rather than continuing to lease the aircraft - to third parties - until their expiry dates Air Malta decided to repurchase the aircraft and then sell them - all seven RJs were sold by Air Malta by the summer of 2007.

January 30th, 2004 marked the end of the Boeing 737-200 in Air Malta operations.  The last B737-200 operated by Air Malta, 9H-ABF, departed for the last time from Malta International Airport - as KM7372 - enroute to Southend, U.K., to undergo maintenance before being delivered to a new operator.

Air Malta bid farewell to its last Boeing aircraft in its fleet on March 30, 2008.  The departure of the B737-300, 9H-ADI, on its last commercial flight KM3326/7 to Frankfurt, was marked with a "triumphal arc" of water from two vehicles of M.I.A.’s firefighting section parked on either side.

In the words of its charter, Air Malta's primary aim is to establish, maintain, develop and operate air transport services to and from Malta which, by the carriage of passengers, freight and mail, serve the national interest.  Air Malta carries out these services under the regulation of the Maltese Department of Civil Aviation that has issued Air Malta a JAR-OPS 1 Air Operator’s Certificate signifying that its operations’ safety level is similar to other European airlines that are regulated under the same standard of operation.

9H-AEF - Airbus A320-214 (c/n. 2142)