A number of Air Malta flights have been delayed after the national airline grounded one of its planes because of a “technical issue.”

Air Malta grounded one of its Airbus aircraft after technicians noted an airframe problem after it flew in last night.

While most of the delays range between 30 minutes to an hour, the flight to Budapest, which was scheduled to depart at 11am, has been delayed by almost 12 hours.

According to the airline’s website these are the affected flights:

 

• KM520 from Malta to Budapest: estimated time of departure 23.15
• KM521 from Budapest to Malta: estimated time of departure 01.59 (25th August)
• KM466 from Malta to Paris Orly: estimated time of departure 14.00
• KM467 from Paris Orly to Malta: estimated time of departure 17.30
• KM7446 from Malta to Lourdes: estimated time of departure 22.50KM7447from Lourdes to Malta: estimated time of departure 01.45 (25th August)
• KM614 from Malta to Rome: estimated time of departure 20:35
• KM615 from Rome to Malta: estimated time of departure 22.30
• KM780 from Malta to Athens: estimated time of departure 18:25
• KM781 from Athens to Malta: estimated time of departure 21:30

 

Air Malta apologised to its clients for the delay caused by caused by circumstance beyond its control and said it gave the utmost importance to the safety and well-being of its clients and crew. 

Air Malta statement

Air Malta passengers, scheduled to travel on KM 520/1(Malta-Budapest-Malta),were today offered assistance including hotel accommodation and refreshments following delays experienced by the airline due to technical reasons which affected one of its aircraft, the airline said in a statement issued at 4.15pm.

Flights KM 520/1 were today delayed for 12 hours. Four other flights were affected with delays ranging from 35 minutes to 110 minutes.

Affected passengers were offered assistance that included snacks depending on the extent of the delay. They will be given compensation in line with statutory requirements.

A spokesperson for the airline said that Air Malta gives utmost importance to the safety and well-being of its clients. In such situations the airline offers care and assistance which many times goes beyond its legal obligations and does its utmost to minimise inconveniences to its passengers.

He added that Air Malta is one of the best performing European airlines in terms of flight regularity. This statistic measures the percentage of planned flights that are actually operated. The Maltese airline has constantly achieved top rankings in this category amongst the Association of European Airlines (AEA) member airlines.

 

He added that unfortunately delays in the airline industry are quite common especially during the peak season. A quick browse atvarious websites of main European airports gives an indication of the delays being experienced on a typical day in August by passengers all around Europe.