Only one in three professionals working in the aviation sector believe it has a positive image, with 63 per cent describing it as either ‘negative’ or ‘neutral’.

According to a new report published by international communications agency Citigate Dewe Rogerson, the industry has a lot to do to improve its image.

The report was prepared to coincide with 6th Annual Opportunities in Business Jets Conference taking place in Malta as from Wednesday, where Citigate Dewe Rogerson executive director Phil Anderson is speaking.

It reveals that over 1,200 new business jets could be delivered to Europe between now and 2025.

The company believes that Malta is well positioned to capitalise on this growth, evidenced by the fact that it now has around 270 aircraft registered on the island, and it has seen some of the biggest growth in registrations of any European country.

Further analysis reveals there were 1,059 private aircraft departures from Malta over the past 12 months, accounting for around 45% of all aircraft departures. Just over half (51%) were short-range turboprops, with an average flight time of around 1.6 hours.

This was followed by ‘heavy’ or large jets (11%) and ultra-long-range jets (10%), which had average flight durations of 2.5 hours and 4.1 hours respectively.

Overall, the average flight time for private aircraft departing Malta is 2.5 hours, compared to 1.7 hours for the rest of Europe.