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.

Packing for Ireland – Of books and Gods

Finally the day is approaching! We leave on Saturday!

‘Leave’ – such a great word. I have so much I want to leave behind. So many feelings and hurts which I try to suppress and forget, but which creep out silently on clawed feet to haunt me at night. Sweaty nightmares and unshed tears apart, escapism is all very well, but is it enough?

Yesterday I started packing. I had made a list earlier – well two really. One was a list of things I needed to bag i.e clothes, jackets, socks, etc. The other more important one was a list of ‘those books’ which for some reason or other, seemed kind of perfect reading for Ireland! I know books kinda weight a lot but…

YES I’m gonna take and read all of those. And yes I can manage thank you! Apart from a three hour flight to Ireland and back, we have some serious long drives, not to mention the fact that night dons its mantle at 4pm in Ire, so probably we’ll start exploring early, but snuggle tightly in our cottage early too. Not that I’m complaining mind you, there are many things one can do in a cottage ;p

At the moment I’m re-reading ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ (read previous post). It’s almost done actually, so ‘Hollow City’, its sequel, comes next. There are three masterpieces by Neil Gaiman which, again, I’m re-reading for the second time just because I miss Neil I guess hehe. Also Ireland, full of Celtic Gods, faeries, seelie myths and history, puts me in a Gaiman kind of mood.

Next comes a find from a second-hand bookstore, James Herbert’s ‘The Ghosts of Sleath’ which is basically a haunting horror mystery taking place in a small mysterious British town.

And to round up, there’s Greg Keyes’ ‘Kingdoms of Bones and Thorn’ quartet. Through the beautifully crafted plot and characters, the one which shines in my estimation and the reason why I’m lugging these books along to Ireland, is the Briar King. God of the Forest, reminiscent of Cernunnos, and the Green Man, and personification of the power of mighty wisdom encapsulated within the earth, this character fascinates and grips me so totally that I wanted to experience it in a country which I associate with the beauty of nature so much.