Passengers on an Air Malta flight to Hamburg and an Air Malta flight from Cagliari early this morning were the first to do without the hassle of passport control as Malta became a member of the Schengen border-less area.

"With this historic development Malta International Airport is now a fully-integrated EU airport and this will no doubt facilitate further matters for some 1.4 million passengers travelling to and from Malta," MIA said today.

It explained that the Schengen requirements necessitated a series of modifications to the air terminal’s infrastructure with works carried out in two phases. The first consisted of the construction of a new Arrivals Area and the subsequent relocation of services to handle both Schengen and non-Schengen incoming passengers. This part of the project was inaugurated in June 2006 and was entirely financed by Malta International Airport plc for €2.8 million.

The second phase incurred an investment of €1.05 million euros co-financed through a grant of 50% of the costs from the Norwegian Fund Mechanism. This phase consisted of the conversion of the previous Arrivals Area into the non-Schengen Departures whilst the Departures Area is now dedicated to Schengen passengers. Modifications included the introduction of three flexible gates which could be used in either configuration according to exigencies of the moment. Works were concluded well ahead of schedule and the Non Schengen facilities were inaugurated in June 2007.

To mark the introduction of the Schengen procedures MIA gave a special welcome to the first passengers arriving from a Schengen area on board Air Malta’s flight from Cagliari. (picture)

MIA’s CEO Julian Jaeger said that the adoption of the Schengen procedures would no doubt facilitate travelling within the Schengen zone and would ensure a more expedient passenger flow. Mr Jaeger praised all MIA employees who worked on the project as well as those who were responsible for the coordination and training of all service providers in order to ensure a smooth change-over in the entire operations of the air terminal.