Air Malta flew a packed flight of Hospice and Puttinu Cares patients and their helpers to Lourdes last week for a day trip that not only commemorated the airline's 35th anniversary but also left an impact on its passengers' lives.

The cancer-patients-turned-pilgrims braved the early flight and the low temperatures in the French town, sandwiched in the Pyrenees, to experience the popular pilgrimage and its spiritual injection.

Ten years ago, Air Malta had taken the same initiative and it decided to repeat the success story last Tuesday. It flew around 176 passengers, including Air Malta staff who joined in the pilgrimage to push wheelchairs with a passion, allowing the terminally ill patients the comfort of two carers each. Even the crew operated the flight voluntarily.

The trip coincided with the 150th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to St Bernadette, which transformed Lourdes from a hidden village to a global phenomenon that attracts five million visitors annually.

This year, Air Malta alone has operated a record number of over 50 chartered flights to Lourdes, carrying over 11,000 Maltese - and that excludes passengers who travelled from neighbouring airports.

The airline's flights to Lourdes started in 1988 and have grown consistently since. Two years ago, it ranked seventh for transporting the most passengers to Lourdes.

Last week, however, Lourdes was like a ghost town, with only a handful of souvenir shops open, selling candles in every shape and size. Most of the shutters were drawn and the contrasting neon-lit restaurants closed.

But the Maltese filled the Rosary Basilica, where Mass was celebrated by the chaplains of the airline and the Hospice, the charismatic Fr Tonio Mifsud and Fr Alfred Vassallo respectively. They later did the Way of the Cross and filled the streets on a tour of the Jubilee Way.

The child cancer patients, who were also accompanied by their parents and siblings, even braved the baths, although four-year-old Neal kicked up a justified fuss before taking the plunge. He was tired after being a star throughout the day but he did enter the baths - only up to his hips as he has a Hickman line attached.

Neal has been undergoing treatment for his illness since January and has another two-and-a-half years to go. Nevertheless, he is coping well, his young mother, Fiona Borg Halford, says.

She felt she got what she expected out of the trip. "It was a deeply religious experience and we got out of it what we believe in... As Christians, when you come here, you feel like something has happened to you. But you cannot put your finger on it. I feel calm and relieved."

The sense of solidarity and that everyone is looking out for each other was strong, as was the feeling that prayer empowers and unites.

Angelina Frendo, 63, was all smiles, saying the journey was "worth it". She too was touched spiritually, but also by the kindness of those who organised it for free.

In terms of her illness, she said it boosted her morale: "I thought I was good for nothing, but I was good enough to fly!"

Hearing about Our Lady of Lourdes is touching but experiencing the place is another story, she said, recommending to anyone else not to think twice.

One of the founders of the Hospice Movement, Theresa Naudi, said she was pleased the volunteers had the opportunity to visit Lourdes too. It was encouraging for them to see the fruit of their dedication.

Even they had to be selected, based on their fitness and ability to handle patients, she said.

Retired nurse and Hospice volunteer Grace Jaccarini had visited Lourdes before but still felt emotional "in the spiritual sense" this time round. Words cannot describe, and one had to experience it to understand, she said.

Organising the trip was a month-long, delicate, logistic operation, said Antoinette Shah, Hospice Movement general manager. Only those patients who were not housebound were eligible and their medical histories were studied before to see if they were fit to fly. They were accompanied by a doctor and nurses to be sure every safety precaution was taken.

The fact that it was a one-day trip, however taxing it was for the sick, encouraged them to take it on. Otherwise, they would have been put off, said Ms Shah.

On arrival at MIA, the patients were greeted by anxious relatives who probably had difficulty parting with their vulnerable loved ones at this point in their lives.

The mothers behind the patients emerged as they were suddenly overcome by the energy to embrace their children and lift them. Only hours before, they did not have the strength to walk and had to be wheeled around the sites.