Aviation in Malta December 2017 & January 2018

2017 has come & gone and looking forward for aviation spotting for this year! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas & a New Year 2018, unfortunately started in Christmas Day I suffered the Aussie Flu or known as H3N2 virus my whole body was falling apart I was worried before my flight home to Malta if I wasn't fit to travel then my passport expired. All behold I was be able to travel with bad cough throughout the flight & made it to Malta alive, got my passport renewed in Valletta and now fully recovered since 2nd January. My body improved on New Years Day 2018 (Which I was out drinking with friends) had a great time & now back to normal with aviation. So today we are going to take a look at some new, some regular and visiting aircraft are not scheduled service to Malta. Before Summer flights arrives, lets take a look at Winter.

Vueling EC-MLE Airbus A320 new to Vueling in 2016 taken 29th December 2017.

First off we have a regular service Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling for Barcelona, Spain. This is a special one because it featured a special livery for Disney Land Paris 25th Anniversary livery since May 2017 with Tinkerbell back from Peter Pan. The special Vueling livery EC-MLE Airbus A320 Sharklets landed in Malta from Barcelona Spain. 

Express Air Cargo TS-ICA Boeing 737-300(QC) new to Condor in 1988 ex D-ABWD taken 29th December 2017.

Our next visitor is regular depending on the airline & freighter service, Express Air Cargo a Tunisian Freighter from Tunis, Tunisia operating in the EU  to France, Germany and Malta with their Boeing 737-300. Recent new from the airline it will operate 21 new routes in the west & central African region, three more flights to Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. And new fleets using a Boeing 737-400. 

Yakutia Airlines VP-BOS Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 new to Luxair in 2007 ex LX-LGA taken 30th December 2017.

Russian carrier Yakutia Airlines two of their aircraft are on maintenance check by Medavia with two of the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 since November 2017 so not much to say about that. Somehow the tail reminds me of British Airways because of the Union Jack style looks like this,

Air Malta 9H-AHR Airbus A320 new to Spanair in 2003 ex EC-INM taken 30th December 2017.

This one I will explain about the future of  the Maltese carrier Air Malta. Since the withdrawn of the Airbus A319 (except 9H-AEJ) Air Malta in recent years had suffer financial problems by the Maltese Government, General Workers Union by pilots & cabin crew and lack of passengers travelling low cost Air Malta withdrawn the A319's and some destinations example Manchester, in the UK, Frankfurt in Germany and Berlin Tegel, in Germany "From 2016 onward" as it's too expensive to keep the fleet going & maintained. Air Malta manage to bring a new addition to the fleet 9H-AHR in April 2017 from Vueling EC-LQJ for 24 months the only Airbus A320 the 232 series while others are 214. After the arrival of the aircraft it only painted the engine red when it still had Vueling look with Air Malta small logo on the fuselage while 9H-AEJ is similar but still has Atlantic Airways hybrid. As promise from Air Malta, the airline is starting to grow strong with new routes that some started of resumed Frankfurt, Germany and new Comiso, Italy few more destinations & resume Manchetser, UK are set in the Summer flights of 2018 and new fleets to be announced soon for Mediterranean network. While 9H-AHR will continue with Air Malta within the next year & the half it might bring back to Vueling soon, Unfortunately there was rumors that 9H-AEF would return to Air Malta after British carrier Monarch (G-ZBAR) ceased operations in October 2017, the plan dropped & almost due to British carrier Thomas Cook Airlines.  When the time comes, I will make a new blog about our Maltese carrier's update fleet & destinations.

Bulgarian Air Charter LZ-LAD Airbus A320 new to Mexicana in 2992 ex XA-RKB taken 30th December 2017.

During this time of the New Year "every year" a Bulgarian charter carrier Bulgarian Air Charter visits Malta primary fleet McDonnell Douglas MD-82 however this time it's Airbus A320 an older A320. First flight in July 1992 it was delivered to a Mexican carrier Mexicana XA-RKB in October 1992 & still going although some are Bulgarian Air Charter's A320 are withdrawn while the MD-82 are still going strong. After New Years Day 2018 LZ-LAD returns to Sofia, Bulgaria after the charter operator was finish we might see them again before 2019 "hope it's MD-82."

EasyJet G-UZHC Airbus A320neo new to EasyJet in 2017 taken 2nd January 2018.

This is a special one "for now" because a British low-cost carrier EasyJet sends out the new Airbus A320neo for London Gatwick service to Malta now & again while Scandinavian Airlines send their A320neos to Malta very frequently. As UK's withdrawal from the European Union is almost a year away we might not see the A320neo for EasyJet soon as it's joining a new Austrian based airliner.   

Brussels Airlines OO-SFX Airbus A330-300 new to Singapore Airlines in 2019 ex 9V-STI taken 2nd January 2018.

This one I was expected by my friend "Mark" local Maltese spotter that Brussels Airlines Airbus A330-300 is due to arrive for maintenance & it did in rough winds. Although Brussels Airlines failed the Summer Seasonal flights for Malta it was immediately ended while Air Malta sill operated successfully Brussels, Belgium with the competition with Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair.

Small Planet Airlines D-AISP Airbus A320 new to Sabena in 1999 ex OO-SNE taken 3rd January 2018.

And finally we have Small Planet Airlines "The Return" this time German based. Back on 2013 I made a blog for new airliners in Malta for the Summer when Small Planet Airlines "Polish reg" operated as a charter flight from London Gatwick, UK to Malta however as charter it somewhat failed or not successful in the market while Air Malta, British Airways, EasyJet, Thomas Cook Airlines and TUI Airways are still successful with flights & charters for London Gatwick. Recent news from Small Planet Airlines Germany it will start it's seasonal charter from seven German airports this could be challenging for another German low-cost & Thomas Cook brand Condor for charters. This aircraft was on charter service to Stuttgart, Germany.

That's all for new visitors in Malta the first 2018 spotting coming next month we are currently planning the return of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Make sure to lookout for Next Flight for February 2018 & beyond.