The first of three microlight aircraft touched down on the airstrip in Gozo yesterday morning.

The aircraft was piloted by Alfred Pace, a member of the Island Microlight Club.

Mr Pace achieved this without much effort, realising a dream of allowing microlights to make use of the disused airstrip.

Major Alex Dalli and Major Mark Said, from the Armed Forces of Malta, then followed.

One of the three later took off to conduct familiarisation flights for other pilots of the Island Microlight Club, who crossed over to the sister island to witness the event.

All proceedings took place under the supervision of Charles Triccas from the Department of Civil Aviation, who was also on board one of the microlight aircraft.

The main aim of the historic flight was to evaluate the possibilities of bringing life back to the airstrip, which, since the termination of the helicopter service, has not seen any aviation activities.

"With a considerable sum of money having been spent on building the strip and the surrounding supporting buildings, it makes a lot of sense to make use of such an area," Joe Ciliberti, coordinator of the evaluation flight, said.

Fire trucks provided cover for any emergency but the whole event went well and the three aircraft departed in the afternoon.

Having pioneered the first microlight landing in Gozo, the Island Microlight Club plans to make further use of the airstrip in the future, subject to permits from the competent authorities.

Mr Ciliberti thanked the Department of Civil Aviation, Malta Air Traffic Services, the Civil Protection Department (CPD) and the various ministries for the support they extended in making the event possible.

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