Air Malta’s chief officer flight operations Mark Micallef Eynaud was awarded the Aviator of Year Award during the second edition of the World Airnews Aviation Awards.

This award was presented following the air to air filming and photography promotional shoot round the Maltese islands last March, which saw the first ever formation flying of the airline’s Airbus A320 aircraft at an altitude of between 1,500 and 2,000 feet.

The event generated a lot of interest and the video footage and photos went viral on social media in a matter of hours.

The award presentation also saw the launch of the Malta Special, an eight-page spread featured in the World Airnews magazine. The international magazine has featured the air-to-air Air Malta photo shoot over Valletta on its front cover.

Captain Mark Micallef Eynaud was at the controls of one of Air Malta’s Airbus A320s and played a crucial role in the preparation for flights.

The selection committee entrusted with choosing the winners, was chaired by aviation lawyer Francesca Galea, who was assisted by Captain Sinclair Portelli and university lecturer Riccardo Flask.

The World Airnews Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella to Malta’s Aviation Museum director Ray Polidano, whose foresight led to the establishment of one of Malta’s main tourist attractions at Ta’ Qali.

The Malta Aviation Museum Foundation headed by Mr Polidano was commended for continuously striving to add interesting exhibits, whilst also managing to restore an aircraft to airworthy condition.

Mr Alex Vit was presented with the Leader of the Year Award by Captain Sinclair Portelli. Mr Vit is the managing director at Maintenance Centre Malta.

The awards were sponsored by Bank of Valletta.

World Airnews is Africa’s leading aviation journal with 50,000 readers worldwide, the majority being flight deck crew and major players within the aviation industry.