Two men whose actions showed true grit and courage during the Libya revolution recently won the first ever World Airnews aviation awards.
World Airnews is a leading aviation journal, with 50,000 readers worldwide, the majority of these being flight deck crew and major players within the industry.
The awards were presented at Bank of Valletta’s head office in St Venera during the launch of the second edition of Malta Special, a 12-page spread featured in World Airnews.
The selection committee was chaired by aviation lawyer Francesca Galea, accompanied by Captain Sinclair Portelli and University lecturer Riccardo Flask.
The Aviator of the Year Award was presented to Captain Philip Apap Bologna by BoV’s head of research and business generation, Noel Scerri.
Capt. Apap Bologna was the pilot on the flight to Tripoli in February 2011 at the height of the Libya conflict.
He had personally left the aircraft to look for any Maltese people trapped in the war-torn country.
The committee described his actions as “heroic”, adding that the pilot had shown a sense of altruism which could only be commended.
Medavia managing director Abdulrazagh Zmirli was presented with the Leader of the Year award by Dr Galea.
Mr Zmirli was described as a charismatic leader at a time when morale within the company was at an all-time low.
Medavia carried out a number of evacuation flights from Libya for multi-national companies wanting to get their employees out of the turbulent country.
The World Airnews lifetime achievement award was presented by Mr Flask to veteran aviation journalist Richard Caruana, who is technical illustrator and contributor to Scale Aviation Modeller – a monthly magazine published in the UK.
The second edition of the Malta Special was launched by coordinator Chris Cauchiin the presence of Joe Schembri, chief officer, Trade Investment and Enterprise Support, at Malta Enterprise.
The brainchild of Malta-based journalists Marica Vella, Riccardo Flask, Joanne Calleja and Chris Cauchi, this year’s Malta Special deals with unmanned air vehicles, Medavia’s role in the Libyan crisis, the Safi Aviation Park and successful aviation businesses in Malta.
“Following the publication of the Aircraft Registration Act and the government’s decision to further develop and promote Malta’s aviation industry, BoV immediately reviewed the various spheres of activity within the industry,” said Mr Scerri.
The bank has set up a line of business focused on facilitating the setting up and registering of businesses in a sector that “has grown tenfold in less than three decades”.