Tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis on Wednesday called an urgent meeting to investigate what happened on Tuesday when a number of flights did not arrive in Malta or did not leave from Malta because the airport runway was blacked out.

This was the very first time such a thing happened in Malta.

Those called to the meeting included representatives of Malta Air Traffic Services (MATS), Malta International Airport and the Civil Aviation Regulator. 

According to a government statement, the minister asked for a detailed technical report from all, which report will be presented to the Civil Aviation Regulator as soon as possible including remedial action so that this does not happen again.