Malta International Airport has spent €9 million on the airfield since 2008 – mostly on tarmac on the runways – but it has also undertaken other projects, such as creating a loop on which aircraft can get off the runway after landing, as well as the widening of all the taxiways.
Other projects are also planned, including the resurfacing of the “Charlie” taxiway.
Chief commercial officer Alan Borg strenuously denied that the airport was investing more enthusiastically in landside operation to boost non-aviation revenue, rather than in the airfield itself.
He was reacting to an article recently carried in The Business Observer, which had touched on a number of issues.
“We invest heavily in the airfield. We would be crazy not to when 70 per cent of our revenue is derived from it!
“We have all the surfaces analysed on a regular basis. The main runway is in good condition but Apron 9 needs some work, which is to be completed out of the 2015 budget.
He also disagreed that MIA should have tried to retain Park 4 for aircraft parking, rather than allowing Malta Industrial Parks to develop it.
Alan Borg“It is useless to us commercially. It is simply too far away from the terminal and from the handling equipment base for it to be used. We have 11 aircraft which ‘sleep’ at the airport – and even then this is very often just for a few hours. There is enough parking space for them. However, we are always looking ahead and we are in negotiations with government over 40,000 sq.m. of land near the AFM which is currently owned by Malta Industrial Parks.
Another issue that had been raised was the delay for vehicles wanting to cross the main runway – which means business jet passengers often have to wait for half an hour at the traffic lights there. MIA has opted to move the ‘threshold’ for the runway that crosses the end of the main one so that it is before the traffic lights. The threshold is an operational line established for navigation purposes, which means that the lights will only be red – and the vehicles will only have to wait – for around 10 per cent of the flights.
We want to make a tangible investment, leaving something long term and visible – what we call shared value – for tourists and the Maltese to enjoy
In the meantime, MIA is also willing to pay around €300,000 to upgrade the road which skirts the perimeter of the runway and will be meeting Transport Malta to get approval.
The airfield investment – especially the 40,000 sq.m. expansion near Apron 8 – will mean that the airport can cope with future demand for parking. If anything, the bottleneck will soon be at check-in, he said. One way to solve this is to offer the option of self-check-in booths and the three already available are being used very effectively by Lufthansa. Mr Borg said he hoped that Air Malta will follow suit, and said that there was space allocated for more kiosks should their use grow.
In the meantime, the airport has also looked at its corporate social responsibility. Rather than spread its €150,000 annual budget across numerous small projects, it will now take up fewer projects but ones with a clear and visible added value.
“We want to make a tangible investment, leaving something long term and visible – what we call shared value – for tourists and the Maltese to enjoy,” he said.
The airport will be looking at cultural, heritage, social and environmental projects – no longer sport – and it has decided to channel requests through a foundation.
It will also publish the results of its CSR in its 2015 annual report, adopting the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) model used by most of the big airports, which establishes measurable goals.
The projects will be vetted by an airport committee chaired by Mr Borg and with members drawn from various departments. The decisions will be taken by the foundation, which brings together the diverse expertise of Frederick Mifsud Bonnici, Frank Salt and Simone Mizzi. The first project will be the €130,000 restoration of the 17th-century watchtower at Żurrieq.
“The MIA chairman will retain a fund for projects at his discretion. And of course, we will still have CSR targets for our own operations, such as energy-saving projects,” he said. The airport has already invested in a solar farm and rainwater collection and will be purchasing a more energy-efficient air conditioning system and LED lighting by 2016.