Medex Aerospace yesterday launched the Medex Conference and Expo series at an event hosted at Bank of Valletta’s Head Office in Santa Venera.

This event also launched the first edition of the World Airnews Malta Special. Dr Marco A. Ciliberti addressed guests on behalf of Medex Aerospace Limited.

The government’s visions for a successful aircraft register in Malta was contained in a document released by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications in 2009, with the intention of attracting foreign aviation ventures to build an aviation service cluster in Malta.

Since then, a modernised legislation was enacted and a restructuring process undertaken at the Civil Aviation Directorate to complement the existing regulatory, financial and economic aspects.

The Aviation Malta brand has already attracted substantial interest during the Middle East Business Aviation Show last December thanks to the commitment of Transport Malta and Malta Enterprise. Malta will continue to be promoted during the upcoming European Business Aviation Conference and Expo in Geneva, where Malta will once again showcase its viability to business operators during this internationally acclaimed business aviation event.

Dr Ciliberti said that the idea of a conference and expo series in Malta, which was first floated in September 2010, and which was well received by Transport Malta, instilled a sense of enthusiasm which has seen him establishing a team to handle an event which he said he anticipates will establish itself as an annual premier event at the crossroads of Europe and North Africa especially in the context of the international situation there these days.

The event has also caught the attention of Fly Corporate, a leading business aviation publication, which has been nominated as the Medex preferred media partner and that of World Airnews, an aviation publication with attractive circulation figures in Africa and the Middle East.

Medex 2011 will be held between 19 and the 20 September at Intercontinental Malta.

Medex Aerospace Limited has invited a number of top-notch industry experts from international organisations such as the European Aviation Safety Agency, the European Business Aviation Association, the International Business Aviation Council and Eurocontrol to discuss a number of topics that include the impact of the upcoming EASA regulations which are scheduled to come into force in 2012, illegal flights, the implementation of the emission trading scheme and its impact on business aviation undertakings and the implications of value added tax amongst others.

These panels will be joined by a number of local aviation experts.

Medex 2011 will therefore be held just days prior to the Malta International Airshow. It will include a static park to host business aviation assets displayed by aircraft manufacturers and operators together with an exhibition area which will offer the possibility to local and international exhibitors to showcase their products and services.

Meanwhile, a 12-page Malta Special features in the May 2011 issue of World Airnews, Africa’s leading aviation journal. Airnews is by far the largest-selling aviation magazine in Africa with a readership of over 50,000, the majority of these being flight deck crew and major players within the aviation industry.

Dr Michael Borg Costanzi, Chief Officer at Bank of Valletta and Chris Cauchi, co-ordinator of the Malta Special addressed the press conference with a video intervention from Tom Chalmers, editor of World Airnews.

Malta’s aviation industry is growing at a very fast pace and the Malta Special is a showcase of Malta’s achievements as well as prospective medium- to long-term developments were tackled in this feature.

The Malta Special, the brain-child of Malta-based journalists Marica Vella, Riccardo Flask, Lara Debono and Chris Cauchi, tackles the new aircraft register, flight training in Malta, the Safi Aviation Park and successful aviation businesses in Malta.

“Bank of Valletta sees itself as the automatic choice for those who are seriously considering partnering with a reliable and solid financial institution,” said Michael Borg Costanzi. “The bank is forecasting substantial growth in the aviation sector and, as a result, provides personalised packages for aircraft operators that register their assets on the island.”

“This is the first time that such an extensive feature on Malta’s aviation industry has been published in an international magazine,” Mr Cauchi stated.

“As Malta’s aviation industry prepares to attend this year’s edition of EBACE, the premier annual meeting place for the European business aviation community in Geneva later on this month, the Malta Special could not have come at a better time, when the Island is in competition with emerging powerhouses in this sphere of business, namely the Isle of Man, Aruba, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.”