Ryanair yesterday announced that it will be operating thrice weekly flights from Valencia in Spain as from 30 October.

The flights will depart the Spanish city on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 12.30pm, arriving in Malta at 3pm. This new route will complement Ryanair’s existing services to Luton, Dublin and Pisa. In addition Ryanair will be operating from Bremen as from 25 September and Girona, Stockholm and Nykoping from 30 October.

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said that with this latest addition, Ryanair will be operating seven routes, bringing 160,000 passengers to the country. He said that the number of tourists in Malta during the first six months of the year was the largest in the past six years.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that the increase in the number of flights was important to increase tourist arrivals. He said that the increase was also down to better promotion, a better product, better organisation of cultural activities and improved infrastructure.