At the Malta International Airport

As I tip the taxi driver and heave my hand luggage to the sidewalk, I look up at the square blocky building that is the Malta International Airport. It is not a large building, and yet, its clean lines and practical structure points towards its functional and efficient intent.

As I walk beyond the sliding doors, I am greeted by a number of compact shops; a bookshop, a small cafeteria, a pharmacy, and even a bank branch. All offering purchases and services which might be useful to the unwary traveler. I am aware that liquids cannot be taken beyond the checking-in point and upstairs, however since there are even more fully-equipped stores on the higher level of the complex, which the traveler has to traverse in order to wait for his airplane at the appropriate gate, I am not at all worried. I know that all my needs will be amply met.

Malta International Airport, situated in the town of Luqa, is the only working airport within the Islands of Malta. It is usually referred to as ‘Luqa Airport’, and is located around 5km away from the capital city of Valletta.

Although the first civil airfields in Malta were constructed at Ta’ Qali and Ħal Far, these were severely damaged during the Second World War. The first airfield terminal in Luqa was financed by the British government (since at the time Malta was under British governance) in 1956. Later, in 1987, the Maltese government started constructing a new air terminal, as well as managing a total refurbishment of the Airport. Arrivals and Departures Lounges, as well as a VIP area, were added, as well as new upgraded facilities which included air conditioning, computerized check-in desks, retail outlets and a larger duty-free area. The completed present airport became fully operational in 1992.

Over the last twenty-five years, passenger numbers have been continually on the increase, not only due to shifts in trends, globalization and the entry of Malta into the European Union, but also due to the introduction of a number of new routes served by low-cost airlines, such as Ryanair and Easyjet, apart from the service of Airmalta, which is Malta’s official airline, and which has been operating since 1973.

Malta International Airport has, throughout the years, featured again and again as one of the top deserving air-terminals in Europe. In recent years, facilities catering for people with reduced mobility and other kinds of disadvantages have also been updated. This airport caters for ten different passenger airlines, which include Lufthansa, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Alitalia and Emirates. A number of direct airport buses operated by Malta Public Transport are easily available throughout the islands. More information relating to these can be found at https://www.publictransport.com.mt/

Apart from being a dynamic and vibrant center of activity, the Malta International Airport is also used as a cultural hub, since its premises are commonly also used to host temporary exhibitions related to a number of art-related projects, featuring paintings, sculptures, and even media-related projects done by various artists. This not only creates an opportunity for artists to showcase their talent, but also introduces newly arrived tourists to Maltese art.

In April 2017, the Malta Airport Foundation added a dash of color to the journey of those travelers who passed through the Malta International Airport, by creating an exhibition featuring twenty local pieces of art. Over the next few months, further exhibitions will adorn the airport, ranging from graphic design, to photography and paintings featuring iconic spots around the Islands of Malta, as well as slices of everyday life in Maltese towns and villages.

This article was written by me and published on the online magazine LivingInMalta. To access the original, please go here.

Gozo – The Good, the Bad, and the Overpriced

Last Friday was a public feast in Malta, and as we had planned some time ago, me, my friends, and of course my bf, decided to spend three nights (starting Thursday evening) relaxing togather in a rustic farmhouse on the island of Gozo.

For those who are not aware of it, Malta is actually made up of three main islands, Malta, Gozo and Comino, and most Maltese view Gozo not only as a sister-island, but also as a place for them to relax and spend their holidays. The island of Gozo itself has a specific market to cater for young people, couples and families who are looking for cheap or un-expensive accomodation and services, so it is kind of a win-win situation.

Gozo is beautiful. The flora and fauna are exactly like those of Malta, however it is a cleaner, less traffic-polluted and greener version of Malta. It is also more sparsely populated, so even though it is much smaller than the main island, one can visit beaches which are more beautiful, more scenic picnic locations, not to mention eat fresher food.

On the other hand, unfortunately, many natives of the island, being aware of the fact that not only people from different countries, but Maltese people themselves, love to visit Gozo for short weekend-breaks, for these reasons, tend to over-do it. The farmhouse we stayed in this weekend was very beautiful, the kitchen was very well stocked with all needed utensils and everything was very clean. The pool was a bit small, but that was ok since not all of us swam anyways as the weather is still not warm enough for everyone.

The issues started to crop up when it came to money. First of all, when my bf booked a couple of months ago, the browser suddenly got stuck as he was clicking the booking dates section and the wrong dates were booked. He called the owner of the farmhouse immediately, since we could not make it on those dates, not to mention the fact that the price was a lot more expensive than the dates we truly wanted to go in. The owner refused to cancel the booking, even though this was a genuine mistake due to the browser not working properly. In the end and after a week of trying to come to some sort of terms, the owner let us change the dates instead of cancelling them, however we still had to go three weeks before the dates we had actually wanted, due to the rates (which is why half of the people could not use the pool). Apart from that, there was a 100-euro damage protection money charge, and that was fine. The thing is, when we arrived to the farmhouse four days ago, the owner seemed convinced that we had NOT yet paid the damage-money, which, he stated, was 300 euros. OFC we had already payed… and he had told us it was 100 euros and not 300! Thank all the gods my boyfriend had saved the email and banking proof of our payment, and since we had our laptop with us, we could show that as proof. So, not only was the owner unhelpful when it came to booking, but he also tried to rob us…

Moving on, the farmhouse was not cheap and due to the booking mistake, we also ended up paying more than we bargained for, for different dates. Moreover, when we arrived we realized that while in the living room and kitchen downstairs, electricity and water heating worked normally, in the bedrooms and corridors upstairs, apart from the main ceiling bulbs, other electricity outlets like bedside lights, electricity plug-ins, and other outlets where one could plug things like hair-dryers, etc, did not work! That is, they did not work for free. You had to put two euros in a slot for these to work, and they would only work for a limited amount of time, and not for the whole hour. Same thing with the water heaters in the showers!! Unbelievable!

Currently there’s been an issue mentioned on the media that Gozitans were becoming irritated because tourism in Gozo was diminishing due to low cost airlines, as people from Malta were preferring to go to Italy, Spain, France, UK, or other locations, instead of going to Gozo. Well, I can well understand that!! A couple of years ago I went for a long weekend break in Sicily for just 30 euros, including the return flight!! We found a really good and non-expensive hotel and the whole thing (minus the rental car) was as expensive as four days in Gozo would have been!

So, would I prefer to spend the same amount of money to go somewhere I have already been to four or five times each year starting from my childhood, or another country where I could explore new places and where water heating was included in the accomodation price…? I don’t need to tell you my answer do I??