Malta International Airport

Malta-based airline Universal Air is next month starting five weekly flights to Greece, increasing the links between the two popular tourism destinations.

The carrier will link Valletta with Corfu three times per week and with Athens twice per week, it stated.

In August, the low-cost airline EasyJet will serve 30 countries. There is a dropout of three countries compared to the same month in 2019 - Estonia, Finland, Norway and Slovenia will no longer be served, although all of them except Norway will "return" in September-November.

A number of 27 routes operated from some airports in Romania to destinations in nine countries will be gradually reopened by Wizz Air, according to a press release of the airline, sent to AGERPRES on Friday. The reopening of the flights will take place until June 6.

Hijackers claiming to have a grenade took over a Libyan plane Dec. 23 and diverted it to Malta before releasing everyone onboard and surrendering to authorities, officials said.

"Final crew members leaving aircraft with hijackers," Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Twitter.
Minutes later he added: "Hijackers surrendered, searched and taken in custody." 

An airliner on an internal flight in Libya was hijacked and diverted to Malta where it landed on Dec. 23, Maltese media reported. 

The Airbus A320 was flying inside Libya for state-owned airline Afriqiyah Airways with 118 people aboard, the reports said. The two hijackers had threatened to blow the plane up, outlets including the Times of Malta reported. 

A passenger plane from Libya has been diverted to Malta in what may amount to hijacking, the latter country's Prime Minister has said.

The plane, with 118 people on board, has already landed in Malta, according to local media.

The airline Afriqiyah Airways has confirmed the development.

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According to the latest information the hijackers have surrendered to authorities after releasing all 118 passengers of the Afriqiyah Airways. No injuries have been reported.

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A small passenger aircraft crashed on takeoff at Malta's international airport on Oct. 24, killing all five people onboard, officials said.

In a statement, the airport said the aircraft, a Fairchild Metroliner turboprop, was involved in an accident "upon takeoff," AFP reported. 

An 84-year-old woman was flown from Manchester to Malta despite her holding an EasyJet boarding pass for Athens, Greece. The airline and airport in England said that the woman, Argyro Aretaki and her family have been compensated after the incident where she was flown to Malta but her luggage went to Athens.

The low-cost Hungarian airline Wizz Air will start flying to five new destinations from Bulgaria's Sofia Airport.

From the middle of September Wizz Air will start operating flights from Sofia to Bari, Cologne, Geneva, Munich and Naples, daily Dnevnik reports.

The flights to Bari and Cologne will start on September 14 and will be operated twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays.