Air Malta has launched its new winter schedule which will run between Sunday and March 24. The schedule has 21 direct destinations with over 100 flights every week.

Air Malta said in a statement it was offering travellers the best connections and services at value for money prices connecting the islands to major European gateways.

New additions this winter include a twice weekly direct service to Berlin, Hamburg and Istanbul and increased services to/from Vienna which will now see the airline operating with a five times weekly frequency.

The airline's winter schedule also includes flight timings of 22 other destinations that are being offered through Air Malta's code-share partners; Lufthansa, Emirates, Brussels Airlines, bmi, Austrian Airlines and Etihad Airlines. This season the Maltese airline will also operate intra-European flights between Brussels and Amsterdam, Athens and Sofia and Catania and Munich.

"This winter we will be operating with 10 aircraft and are aiming to float over 770,000 seats to/from Malta. Although this is an ambitious target considering the global economic situation, we are cautiously optimistic that we can achieve good passenger figures also this season," Philip Saunders, Air Malta's chief commercial officer said.

This winter Air Malta will be operating direct flights to; Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Catania, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Istanbul, London Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly, Rome. Sofia, Tripoli, Vienna, Zurich.

A copy of the Winter Timetable can be obtained from Air Malta sales office at Malta International Airport and in Victoria (Gozo) or a travel agent.

The latest additions and changes in this winter schedule can also be viewed online/

www.airmalta.com.