Malta Civil Aviation Register set to soar

The Malta Civil Aviation Register will be developed next year and could evolve into an important sector for the economy in the same way the shipping industry had, Transport Minister Austin Gatt said yesterday.

This would lead to job creation and substantial revenue for stakeholders, especially through taxation. It would also necessitate major changes in the structure of the Civil Aviation Department, intermediary certification and legislation.

The minister made his comments when he presented an air operations certificate to Swiss company Comlux Aviation, which has chosen Malta as its base for private charters.

It has registered two aircraft in Malta and intends to register more in the future. Comlux Aviation offers services to VIP customers including charter operations and the management of private aircraft. It has already employed six people in Malta.

Dr Gatt said Comlux Aviation's presence should attract new operators in the aviation sector.

The president and CEO of Comflux, Richard Gaona, said Malta was chosen because of its strategic location, its high standards of regulation and also because of its seriousness and expertise in aircraft maintenance and other services such as banking and legal support.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Wednesday, January 7, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Sue Borg (on 4/12/08)

This is something very positive, but then again who are we kidding. I have just read on an Italian Sport Aviation blog that a total of 7 small two person aircraft with an individual mass not exceeding 450kg (in Malta classified as Microlights) have been asked for a total of 650Euros to simply have their respective pilots and co-pilots transported from park 4 Malta International Airport to the gate. It’s cheaper to go, to Dubai or even further. I did not believe it at first but it’s true, it costs 650 Euros to be "handled" for less than 2 miles in our beloved Malta. If the costs are as reported then surely we must be kidding ourselves, but not the market we are trying to attract. No wonder that the powers that be are dragging their feet on a Gozo Airfield.