Airport Guide

History of Malta International Airport

While an air base had been present on the base since the 1940s, when one was constructed to handle military requirements, an ongoing rise in civilian flights meant that plans for a new airport were put into action in the late 1950s.

Initially part-financed by the British government, the new airport was opened at Luqa, just three miles from the Maltese capital Valetta, in 1958.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a steady rise in tourist numbers, thanks largely to the introduction of package holidays and jet engines, prompting a longer runway to be constructed as part of a major refurbishment process in 1977.

Though a new air terminal soon followed, the Maltese government opted to oversee a complete overhaul of the airport in the 1980s, effectively building a whole new one just down the road.

Work on what is known as Malta International Airport, therefore, only finished in 1992, with the old terminal buildings now used for warehousing.

Since then, Malta International Airport has enjoyed a steady rise in passenger numbers on the back of the low-cost flights revolution.

Travelling to Malta International Airport

Passengers arriving into Malta International Airport are well-served by regular, efficient and affordable public transport links to both the capital city of Valletta as well as to a number of other destinations
across the island.

Most arrivals board the number eight bus into downtown Valletta, with this service also linking the suburbs and villages of Marsa, Floriana, Tarxien and Gudja, amongst others.

In addition, taxis can be found waiting outside the main terminal building, while certain hotels are catered for by a dedicated shuttle bus service which can be booked in advance online.

Airlines flying from Malta International Airport

Malta International is the only hub of the national carrier Air Malta, which operates dozens of services a day to numerous international destinations.

Cities served by the flag carrier include Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul, London, Manchester, Moscow, Paris, Rome, St Petersburg, Tel Aviv and Vienna.

In 2010, Ryanair announced that it had made Malta International one of its European bases, with the low-cost airline offering bargain flights to and from Bari, Billund, Bologna, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, Krakow, London, Madrid, Stockholm, Valencia and Venice, among other destinations.

Meanwhile, budget rival easyJet flies to Belfast, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milan, Newcastle and Rome.

At the same time, more than a dozen carriers offer one or just a few flight options in and out of Malta.

For example, Alitalia flies to Rome, Finnair to Helsinki, Iberia to Madrid, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Scandinavian to Stockholm and Norwegian Air Shuttle to Copenhagen and Oslo.

Going further afield, Libyan Airlines offers services to Tripoli, EgyptAir Express jets to Cairo and Emirates to both Dubai and Larnaca.

Additionally, several package holiday firms operate flights to Malta on a seasonal basis, including Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways.