Air Malta today inaugurated a twice weekly scheduled service to Sicily's capital and political centre, Palermo. This service will be operated in addition to the 15 weekly flights to the island's other important city of Catania.

"This is more good news for our Maltese and Sicilian customers," said Joseph Galea, Air Malta's Deputy Chief Commercial Office upon the arrival of the first flight. "We are thrilled to inaugurate our new services to/from Palermo's Falcone-Borsellino airport. This service which will be operated with Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft will not be a seasonal route just for summer, but we will continue our services throughout winter and we expect to carry around 20,000 passengers in the first year of operation."

Commenting on this launch Mr Leslie Vella, Deputy Chief Executive of the Malta Tourism Authority said, "The Sicilian tourist market to Malta is attractive due to its proximity and volume. Sicily is a diverse island and while its eastern half enjoys good connectivity with Malta, the same cannot be said for connections with its west. The new, year- round Air Malta service to Palermo will address this imbalance and create strong potential for increased tourism from our closest neighbour."

Mr Alan Borg, Chief Executive of Malta International Airport added, "we welcome today's development on two levels: first off, the Italian market is one of Malta's top drivers of passenger traffic and the inauguration of the Palermo route adds another new connection to our schedule year-round. Apart from this, the introduction of Palermo will serve to further harness Sicily's unique potential as an ideal destination for short breaks due to our islands' proximity. I would like to commend the team at Air Malta for their efforts in developing this new route."

The Maltese National Airline will operate two weekly flights to/from Palermo every Monday and Thursday. The new service will offer connectivity between Malta and the western part of Sicily.

Air Malta's flight schedule will operate as follows:

Monday

dep Malta 1315hrs arr Palermo 1415hrs

dep Palermo 1505hrs arr Malta 1555hrs

Thursday

dep Malta 1950hrs arr Palermo 2050hrs

dep Palermo 2140hrs arr Malta 2230hrs

More information is available on www.airmalta.com, by calling Air Malta's Call Centre on +356 21662211, from Air Malta sales office at Malta International Airport or from Travel Agents in Malta or Italy.

Photo: Jason Muscat/Air Malta.

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