Air Malta has leased an Airbus A320 aircraft to Sky Airlines of Chile for two months and has also provided the crew.

The aircraft will raise the Chilean airline’s capacity during the peak southern hemisphere summer. It is expected to operate from Santiago to airports in Peru, Brazil and Uruguay.

The plane will rejoin Air Malta’s fleet in early March in time for the airline’s busy summer season.

The aircraft with registration 9H-AEF will be operated by Air Malta cockpit crew and maintained by Air Malta engineers. A number of Maltese training pursers have also been sent over to Chile to train Sky Airlines’ cabin crew.

The pilots have been given specialised training to be able to operate the aircraft in South America and across the Andes mountains.

Air Malta said this is the fourth wet lease agreement between both airlines since 2007.

"Through such agreements Air Malta generates additional revenue and leases out its excess capacity during winter. Past customers also included Etihad Airways, Libyan Airlines, Adria Airways and Air New Zealand."

The Air Malta aircraft flew to Chile in three stages: from Malta in a six-and-a-half hour flight to to Sal International Airport on Cape Verde Islands off the West coast of Africa, then a five-and-a-half hour flight to Brazil’s Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport. The last leg was operated to Santiago International Airport in Chile and took another five
and a half hours. The trip covered 6654 nautical miles.