This summer, Air Malta will operate a series of 10 flights between Reggio Calabria and Barcelona and will be bringing over to Malta an increased number of students from the Reggio Calabria region to study English on the islands. This was announced last week during a press conference held in Reggio Calabria addressed by the region’s mayor Dr Giuseppe Scopelliti and Air Malta Sicily manager Edwin Caruana.

The new service and the increased number of students coming to Malta are the result of close collaboration between Air Malta officials and the Comune of Reggio Calabria. The collaboration between the two entities began over a year ago and culminated in the announcement that Air Malta will start operating a Malta – Reggio – Malta service in the summer of 2005.

“Malta not only offers excellent English learning schools but presents students wishing to study English with an excellent destination, with a wide range of entertainment and leisure facilities. The airline is marketing Malta as a real ‘value-for-money’ alternative to the UK, offering excellent English language schools. Last year the region contributed 1,000 Italian students who came to Malta to study English. This year we are expecting around 3,000 students. With our new service between Reggio and Barcelona we intend to further invest in the southern Italian region and diversify our operations,” said Mr Caruana.

Air Malta is always looking for new opportunities to increase its activities in a sustainable way, he said. This particular initiative of introducing flights between Reggio and Barcelona and bringing over more students to Malta was made possible with the assistance and cooperation of the Comune of Reggio Calabria.

It is Air Malta’s intention to continue building on these excellent relations with the Comune, said Mr Caruana.