Captain Mark Micallef Eynaud, who was at the controls of one of Air Malta’s  Airbus A320s during the photo shoot round the Maltese islands, has been bestowed with the award of Aviator of Year for his above average qualities in formation flying. The award was presented by Charles Borg, Chief Executive Officer at Bank of Valletta, during the second edition of the World Airnews Aviation Awards held at the Bank’s head office in Sta Venera,

The Malta Special is an 8-page spread featured in World Airnews magazine. For the first time ever, an international magazine has featured an Air Malta aircraft in an air-to-air photo shoot over the islands on its cover. 

“Following the publication of the Aircraft Registration Act as well as the government’s decision to further develop and promote Malta’s aviation industry, Bank of Valletta immediately reviewed the various spheres of activity within the aviation industry. The Bank is fully geared to facilitate the setting up and registering of businesses in a sector which has grown 10-fold in less than three decades,” said Mr Borg.

The selection committee, entrusted with identifying the winners, was chaired by aviation lawyer Francesca Galea who was assisted by Captain Sinclair Portelli and  university lecturer Riccardo Flask.

Captain Micallef Eynaud, Chief Officer for Flight Operations, played a crucial role in the preparation for the flight that saw two Airbus A320s flying in formation round the islands at an altitude of between 1500 and 2000 feet for a promotional photo shoot, which went viral on social media in a matter of hours.

Alex Vit was presented with the Leader of the Year Award by Captain Sinclair Portelli. Mr. Vit, is the Managing Director at Maintenance Centre Malta. The company started only five years ago and last February it announced another massive investment of more than 5 million euros to build a bigger hangar, so that it could accommodate larger business aircrafts. Mr Vit has showed, that Malta could effectively be used as a stepping stone to target the African market. His vision has led to the company, establishing links with a number of operators, including the ever expanding Evergreen Apple Nigeria.

“His ‘modus operandi’ has showed that Malta’s strategic position can be put to excellent use by those wishing to target the North African and Sub-Saharan markets,” the Selection Committee noted.

The World Airnews Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by Minister for Tourism Karmenu Vella to Malta’s Aviation Museum director Ray Polidano,  whose  foresight led to the establishment of one of Malta’s main tourist attractions at Ta’ Qali. The Malta Aviation Museum Foundation headed by Ray Polidano was commended for continuously striving to add interesting exhibits, whilst also managing to restore an aircraft to airworthy condition.

The third edition of the Malta Special, an insert in the May 2013 issue of World Airnews, was officially launched during this event by the insert’s coordinator Chris Cauchi in the presence of Flight Inspector Nigel Dunkerley, and AOPA’s President Pierre Travers Tauss, who both addressed those present about the present state of Malta’s aviation scene.

World Airnews is Africa’s leading aviation journal with 50,000 readers worldwide, the majority of these being flight deck crew and major players within the industry.

The brain-child of Malta-based journalists Marica Vella, Riccardo Flask, Joanne Calleja and Chris Cauchi, this year’s edition of the Malta Special deals with, amongst others, the flight training business, the aircraft registration act and cabin crew training being conducted by Oyster Aviation Training.

“The Malta Special would not have been possible without the support of Bank of Valletta, Maintenance Centre Malta and V Demajo Aviation,” said Chris Cauchi

With North Africa striving to regain political stability after the Arab Spring uprisings, Malta is set to play an even bigger role in the aviation sphere in this part of the world as it continues to support a myriad of active operators in the region.