An Air Malta flight to Tel Aviv was this morning hit by lightning during  approach to the airport. No one was injured and the aircraft landed safely in Tel Aviv, Air Malta said.

A spokesmann for Air Malta said it was fairly normal in commercial aviation for aircraft to be struck by lightning and aircraft were protected and certified in this regard. Passengers, crew and aircraft were never in any danger.

He added that standard procedure entailed that the aircraft is checked after the flight.

So Air Malta was planning to operate a relief aircraft this evening with a team on engineers to service the aircraft, check all systems and certify it fit for flight. This aircraft is expected to arrive in Tel Aviv at around midnight.

As a consequence six other flights will be delayed as follows:

The return flights to Malta will operate around an hour after their arrival time at the foreign airport.

Air Malta, the spokesman said, gave utmost importance to the safety and well-being of its clients and crew and apologised to its clients for any inconvenience caused by circumstances beyond its control.