Air Malta suspends employee over collision

The person held to be responsible for Saturday's collision between an Air Malta passenger coach and an aircraft on the airport apron has been suspended, according to sources close to the airline.

The suspension will be in force until Air Malta concludes an inquiry into the incident, the sources said.

The coach, which was empty, hit the wing of the aircraft, which had been chartered by Frosch Turistik and was about to return to Berlin.

The plane was grounded and passengers taken back to their hotel until arrangements were made for their return.

No one was injured but damage was said to have run into hundreds of thousands of liri in repairs and lost earnings.

The incident was the second of its kind in the space of a few weeks.

In an unrelated case, Air Malta has dismissed an employee who did not report for work for 10 consecutive days without having a valid reason.

The dismissal, in accordance with article nine of the collective agreement, followed investigations into reports that the employee was failing to turn up for work but doing another job, the sources said.