April 6, 2024.   R.I.P. Air Malta

Another old world carrier has bitten the dust. This time it’s Air Malta, national carrier of its namesake island nation.

Air Malta had been around since 1974, and once flew Boeing 720s across Europe (Google that one if you need to). The company had been floundering for some time, under heavy pressure from low-cost leisure carriers, and shut its doors for good on March 30th.

In its place, taking on most of Air Malta’s Airbus A320s, is a government-run entity called KM Malta Airlines, whatever that means. There’s also a low-cost outfit called Malta Air, in case the name thing isn’t confusing enough.

I don’t like it when flag carriers — to use a vintage expression — go out of business. See Swissair, Sabena, et al. Each time it happens, commercial aviation loses a little more history and dignity, while dumb-named LCCs and startups flood the field.

In 2015 I flew aboard Air Malta, and wrote about the experience in a piece titled, “Long Live Air Malta!”

I did what I could.