Pope Benedict has arrived in Malta his flight just missing a cloud of volcanic ash which has been progressively drifting down Italy, closing airports and airspace.

His Alitalia plane, with the papal flag fluttering from a cockpit window, arrived 10 minutes early just before 5 p.m. under a partly cloudy sky and taxied to the middle of Park Nine at Malta International Airport. His Holiness waved and smiled broadly from the top of the aircraft stairs and was greeted as he came down by President George Abela.

The President and the Pope walked on a red carpet to the receiving line with including, among others, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, the Speaker, Louis Galea, the Chief Justice, Vincent DeGaetano and Archbishop Paul Cremona.

Pope Benedict will then go to a dais with the President and the two will be accorded a salute by the AFM Band, which will play the Vatican anthem and the Maltese national anthem.

President George Abela will deliver an address of welcome, to which the Pope will reply.

The Pope will leave the airport for Valletta from the ministerial lounge, with the Popemobil in the centre of a carade of Vatican officials and security men. The motorcade will proceed to Luqa, Marsa, Blata l-Bajda, Floriana and into Valletta through City Gate - the last major event before Gate is demolished. People had started gathering along the route even before the Pope arrived in Malta.

Several hundred elderly people will greet the Pope as the motorcade is driven past St Vincent de Paule Home in Luqa.They had been there since 4 pm, the programme for them having included a Mass and a parade by a boy scouts band.

At the Palace Square, the Pope is expected to be greeted by 5,000 flag-waving children as he enters the Palace for meetings with Malta's political leadership.