With 13 weekly flights from Rome Fiumicino, 14 from Catania, 7 from Milan Linate and 2 weekly flights from Palermo, scheduled on Monday and Friday, Air Malta prepares for the new winter season to increase its presence in Italy and Sicily, focusing on history, tourism, events and English courses. The flagship company of the Island of the Knights looks in particular at the Sicilian capital, which next year will be the Italian Capital of Culture, together with La Valletta, the European Capital of Culture.

The launch of the new Air Malta route took place at the “Falcone Borsellino” airport in Palermo. Among the participants: Fabio Giambrone, President of Gesap, the company managing the airport, Sales Director Natale Chieppa, Tiziana Della Serra, Managing Director of Rephouse, the Company that represents Air Malta in Italy, and Claude Zammit-Trevisan Marketing Director of the Malta Tourism Authority for Italy.

The Maltese carrier has been operating for 42 years now with 35 destinations to Europe, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. “For the future,” said Della Serra, “Air Malta will point to increased services and technology: online group booking, mobile check-in, mobile booking, web check-in for groups and social content. All information can be found on www.airmalta.com“.

“We are proud to be part of this ambitious growth project”, said Trevisan. “Malta has been on the Italian market for many years, is already very strong on the Catania airport but wants to grow also in Palermo, which is the last of the 12 Italian airports connected with our island, which is 2 hours from Milan and one hour from Rome. The airport is located 20-25 minutes from Valletta and the main tourist destinations. In the last two years we have intervened on the beaches: today we have 12 blue flag beaches, suitable for young people and for families. We have a millennial civilization – with UNESCO site and cities like Valletta, which will be the European Capital next year. Culture links us to Palermo, which will be the cultural capital of Italy. We have already started to find a common path for the development of synergies for tourism. There will be many events of great quality throughout the year, starting from January, and many will be free: the baroque music festival, the carnival, traditional festivals, specific events for Valletta 2018. Malta – he concluded – is a safe and child-friendly destination”.

In its first 18 months in Punta Raisi, Air Malta benefited from the growth of the Palermo airport, which brought in more than one million passengers in three years and a growth of over 8 percent between 2015 and 2016, a positive trend confirmed by +5.4% in the first eight months of 2017. During that same period, Air Malta carried 16,170 passengers (+220% compared to 2016), although it should be considered that last year the Maltese company became operational at Punta Raisi from the second semester. 

“The Maltese are very interested in Sicily,” said Natale Chieppa, “and there is a very strong potential for Sicilians and Palermitans who want to visit Malta”.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews