The countdown for Air Malta’s all brand new fleet continues, with the delivery of the 10th new aircraft delivered from Airbus.

The aeroplane, an A320 with the registration 9H-AEO, has been named Isla – Citta’ Invicta and is the 2,768th aircraft of its type manufactured by Airbus. 9H-AEO has already started operating from the airline’s Malta base.

The aircraft will be joining the four Airbus A320 and five Airbus A319 already delivered by Airbus. The last two brand new Airbus A320 aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to Air Malta in February and March next year, thus completing the airline’s fleet replacement project.

9H-AEO is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art equipment including recently developed Rockwell Collins weather radar to further enhance the information available to cockpit crew and increase the already high standards of aircraft safety enjoyed by Air Malta. This new radar will also be installed on Air Malta’s other A320 aircraft.

To celebrate this milestone delivery, Airbus invited over Air Malta’s CEO Joe Cappello to officially hand over the aircraft. Upon arrival at the Airbus main manufacturing plant in Toulouse, France, Mr Cappello was greeted by senior Airbus officials, including executive vice-president customer services Patrick Gavin, executive vice-president Europe, CIS, Latin America Christopher Buckley, vice-president of sales western Europe Peter Bennett, vice-president training Jean Michel Roy and regional sales director Eric Jullien.

A group of Air Malta engineers, together with their Airbus counterparts, spent a week in Toulouse doing the final tests and checking that the aircraft matches the specifications as laid down by Air Malta. A number of test flights also took place. Capt. Laurence Gatt flew the final “acceptance flight” over the skies of Toulouse, where the aircraft was tested to the limits of its design envelope.

Air Malta boasts a young fleet that, by next year, will have an average age of 2.5 and will be one of the youngest fleets in Europe and throughout the world.

The new fleet has brought substantial advantages and cost savings arising from fleet commonality.