Air Malta inaugurated a twice weekly scheduled service to Sicily’s capital and political centre, Palermo. The service will be operated in addition to the 15 weekly flights to Catania.
“This is more good news for our Maltese and Sicilian customers,” Joseph Galea, the airline’s deputy chief commercial officer, said upon the arrival of the first flight.
“We are thrilled to inaugurate our new services to/from Palermo’s Falcone-Borsellino airport. This service, which will be operated with Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, will just not be a seasonal route, but will continue throughout winter. We expect to carry around 20,000 passengers in the first year of operation.”
“Air Malta offers the best choice not only to Sicily but throughout Italy, where we also operate to Rome and Milan with a total of 34 weekly flights and the highest number of frequencies per destination compared to any other carrier. With the additional passengers generated through this route, we aim to carry over 350,000 from all over Italy next year,” Mr Galea added.
Leslie Vella, deputy chief executive of the Malta Tourism Authority, said: “The Sicilian tourist market to Malta is attractive due to its proximity and volume. Sicily is a diverse island and while its eastern half enjoys good connectivity with Malta, the same cannot be said for connections with its west. The new, year-round Air Malta service to Palermo will address this imbalance and create strong potential for increased tourism from our closest neighbour.”
MIA chief executive Alan Borg said: “We welcome today’s development on two levels: the Italian market is one of Malta’s top drivers of passenger traffic and the inauguration of the Palermo route adds another new connection to our year-round schedule. The introduction of Palermo will also serve to further harness Sicily’s unique potential as a destination for short breaks due to our proximity.”
The airline will fly to/from Palermo every Monday and Thursday.
More information is available on www.airmalta.com or by calling Air Malta on 2166 2211. One can also visit the Air Malta sales office at MIA or contact travel agents in Malta or Sicily.