Malta International Airport

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Malta International Airport Luqa Airport
IATA: MLA - ICAO: LMML
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Malta International Airport plc
Serves		Malta
Elevation AMSL		300 ft (91 m)
Coordinates		35°51′27″N, 014°28′39″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
06/24	7,799	2,377	Asphalt
14/32	11,627	3,544	Asphalt

The old passenger terminal at Luqa Airport was converted into an air cargo terminal when the completely re-furbished Malta International Airport became fully operational in March 1992.

Malta International Airport (IATA: MLA, ICAO: LMML) is the only airport in Malta, and it serves the whole Maltese Archipelago. It is located between Luqa and Gudja in Malta. It occupies the location of the former RAF Luqa and was completely re-furbished, becoming fully operational on March 25, 1992. It is still referred to by locals as Luqa Airport.

Often mistakenly referred to by the foreign press as Valletta Airport, MIA is 8 km from the Maltese capital Valletta. The towns of Floriana, Blata-Bajda, Hamrun, Marsa, and Santa Lucia all lie between the capital, and MIA.

The Airport is fully equipped to international standards, with two runways, and a 40,000 m² terminal complex including spacious check-in, baggage claim and Welcomers' Halls, cafeterias, restaurants, duty-free shops and other retail outlets, offices, stores, and other service areas.

Luqa Airport hosts the annual Malta Airshow, visited by military and civil aircraft from various European and other countries (see website).

[edit] Operations

[edit] Security

MLA boasts state-of-the-art equipment such as a 100% Hold Baggage Screening system capable of processing 1,500 luggage pieces per hour and an ARINC MUSE common check-in system together with a Baggage Reconciliation System.

[edit] Air traffic control

(ATC) operations are carried out from a fully equipped control tower / Area Control Centre located between runways 14/32 and 06/24.

Technical information is taken from the airport’s official homepage [1].

[edit] Incidents and accidents

• On November 23, 1985, Luqa Airport was the scene of one of the deadliest aircraft hijackings in aviation history.^[1] EgyptAir Flight 648 was forced to land in Malta en–route to Libya. On the agreement of Maltese officials, Egyptian antiterrorist forces were dispatched to deal with the incident. Storming of the Boeing 737 resulted in the death of over 60 passengers^[2] plus several security personnel, aircrew and hijackers.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

• Air Berlin (Nuremberg)
• Air Malta (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels, Cairo, Casablanca, Catania, Cluj Napoca "seasonal" [starts 12 June 2007], Düsseldorf, East Midlands, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Istanbul-Atatürk, Larnaca, Lisbon, Liverpool [starts May 4, 2007], London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, London-Stansted, Madrid-Barajas, Manchester, Moscow-Domodedovo, Munich, Newcastle, Oslo, Paris-Orly, Rome-Fiumicino, Sofia, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tripoli, Tunis, Venice [starts May 4, 2007], Vienna, Zurich)
• Air Mediterranee (Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly)
• Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino)
• Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
• British Airways
  • operated by GB Airways (London-Gatwick)
• BritishJET (Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds-Bradford, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham)
• Brussels Airlines (Brussels)
• Centralwings (Warsaw) [Starts May 30,2007]
• Cimber Air (Billund)
• Emirates (Dubai, Larnaca)
• First Choice Airways (London-Gatwick)
• Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart)
• Iberia
  • operated by Clickair (Barcelona) [starts summer 2007]
• Jat Airways (Belgrade, Tripoli)
• Libyan Arab Airlines (Tripoli)
• Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
• Luxair (Luxembourg)
• MyTravel Airways (Manchester)
• Scandinavian Airlines System (Stockholm, Goteborg, Copenhagen, Oslo)
• Thomas Cook Airlines (Birmingham, Manchester)
• Thomsonfly (Manchester, Birmingham, London-Gatwick)
• Olympic Airlines (Athens)
• Ryanair (London-Luton, Pisa, Dublin)
• Tuninter (Monastir, Tunis)

[edit] Gallery

Departures lounge

Arrivals lounge

View of the outside of the terminal

[edit] External links

• Malta International Airport
• Air Malta website
• World Aero Data airport information for LMML

[edit] References

1. ^ "1985: Commandoes storm hijacked plane", BBC. Retrieved on February 7, 2007.
2. ^ "After nearly 11 years, EgyptAir hijacker sentenced", CNN, October 7, 1996. Retrieved on February 7, 2007.