The elderly taxi driver who was fighting for his life after a robber shot him in the face yesterday in a failed €60,000 heist at the airport is no longer in a critical condition, the police said.

Joseph Magro, 77, of Qormi, was shot through the windscreen of his car after his passenger refused to hand over the cash to two armed men wearing balaclavas, who were in another car.

The passenger, an unnamed 68-year-old man from Marsa, was slightly injured by the same shot in the attempted hold-up that took place at about 11am outside the Skyparks complex.

The police said this morning that several people are being questioned about the attempted theft.