Plans for a 900-metre-long rural airfield in Gozo have been forwarded to Brussels with the aim of tapping EU funding for the estimated €14 million project.
Documents seen by The Sunday Times of Malta show that the government intends to construct a fully-fledged airstrip, capable of handling international flights, by the end of 2017.
The plan is to have a grass-stripped airfield close to or on the same footprint of the current helipad in the area known as Ta’ Lambert, in Xewkija.
The airstrip would cater for internal traffic and small aircraft but also capable of welcoming direct flights from nearby regions, particularly Sicily, southern Italy, Tunisia and Libya.
The government wants the new airstrip to be a fully licensed aerodrome facility, including a terminal and various ancillary facilities connected with these types of regional airports. According to the government’s plans, studies on the airstrip’s feasibility are already ongoing and if finances are available, construction can start at the end of next year. The government says the airstrip could be completed in 24 months.
In its submissions, the government is arguing that an airstrip has been long felt particularly to boost the island’s tourist industry.
The EU document states that according to the Maltese authorities a new airstrip has the capability of more than doubling Gozo’s tourist industry. The need for a small airstrip in Gozo has been highlighted by various administrations during the past years.
In the beginning of the 1990s, government plans to build an airstrip at the same location of today’s proposals were met with harsh resistance, particularly by environmentalists who argued the development would change Gozo’s rural setting and will have irreparable effects on the local environment. The opposition had forced the government to shelve plans.
However, in the latest presentation, the Maltese authorities are claiming the airstrip project “has broad support from the Gozo community”, especially tourism operators who have direct interest in improving the island’s accessibility.
Aviation sources who spoke to The Sunday Times of Malta raised doubts on whether a grass airstrip is possible in Gozo.
“Although a grass airstrip will be environmentally more acceptable it will require a lot of maintenance running into millions every year,” the sources said.
Such airstrips only exist in countries with abundant water resources.