On 15 September I went to the airport to catch a flight to Amsterdam. With 10 tourists queuing in front of me and many more behind me, it took me exactly 44 minutes to check in, because the queue did not move one inch for 30 minutes despite the fact that the check-in desk was open.

There were some six people travelling to the UK in our queue. The wait was so long that they were advised to jump the queue lest they miss their flight.

At one point an airport official appeared out of nowhere, raised his hand in our direction and declared loudly (and thankfully in Maltese) to his assistant that he wanted the queue to disappear or moved to another lane.

After checking-in, I proceeded to the men’s toilet in the transit lounge (to the left as you go in). The urinals were blocked and half full of urine. The chrome handle on the door was disgustingly filthy.

I sat and waited on a seat close to the gate. There was a stench of burnt food permeating the lounge, indicative of poor extraction fans in one of the catering establishments.

Finally, the gate opened, two men came to check boarding passes…these men were so intent on their loud private conversation that they did not even bother to acknowledge any of the travellers handing them their boarding passes.

After all the money that was pumped into this airport by the government, I ask, it this fair?

I expect our airport to offer travellers a superior level of service than is found in airports of other civilised countries because it is smaller and that much more manageable.

Marco Macelli

BALZAN