Luqa was able to handle 24 Wellingtons by The year saw Luqa as a base for reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrol aircraft. But it wasn't to remain long in this role because, in April , No.
After the war Luqa airfield settled down once again as a reconnaissance base, employing Meteors, Lancasters, and Shackletons.
Valiant and Canberra bombers operated against targets in the Egyptian Canal Zone. This page is basically divided into two parts. The first part consists of a description of Luqa Airport, whilst the second part is a description of what could be seen in the late sixties and seventies by a Maltese enthusiast. The deadline was later extended to 15 March and then 31 March of the same year. Although negotiations were constantly being held, the Ministry of Defence initiated Operation Exit, the pull out of all service personnel out of Malta.
However, a few days later, agreement over the rent money to be paid for the use of facilities in Malta was resolved.
A new agreement, which would expire on 31 March , was signed. Updating the airport Back in , plans had started being drawn up on how to improve Luqa Airport, the more so since a new breed of wide-body airliners, like the B.
Part of these plans called for the extension of a runway, and in May , the Maltese Government started work on the extension of runway NW-SE. An Italian engineer, Sig. Mario Marra, took charge of the whole project, which got underway in May and took five years to complete.
Extended from yards to yards, the runway was inaugurated on 1 October The very first aircraft to land on it was an Air Malta Boeing B, AP-AMJ, when, in the late afternoon of 27th September , it took off and made several touch-and-goes on the new runway. Luqa was decommissioned as a RAF station on 29th September , for which a special programme was held. The RAF's aerobatic team, the Red Arrows, the last time they would be seen with the Gnat, together with a number of other RAF front line aircraft like the Harrier and Jaguar, gave a spectacular display in front of a very large crowd.
The runway Runway , extended from yards to yards, was inaugurated on 1 October In this aerial view of the airfield , the threshold of runway 32 is at the upper right.
Going along to the runway, i. Further left can be seen a smaller apron, this being Park 8. Also visible is the Air Malta hangar. Below the hangar, and slightly to the left, is what appears to be a large circle. Immediately below the compass bay is the threshold of runway A cockpit view of the approach to runway 14 can be seen here.
The darker part of the runway signifies the part that was extended during the fifties. To the left of the 06 threshold is the northern taxiway, and if you move along this, that large whitish area is park 4, where the majority of airshow participants are placed on static display. Further along the taxiway, and to the left, is park 3, and above that is a large concrete area with two hangars.
The last regular connection between the two islands was operated by seaplane operator Harbour Air Malta Malta Int'l between and Despite Air Malta having subsidised the venture by more than EUR, a year, the service was unprofitable and was stopped in The government in launched a feasibility study on the reintroduction of a helicopter service and mentioned state-owned Malta MedAir MT, Malta Int'l as an interested contender, but the initiative never took off after a tender process was halted following objections over its process raised by Helicopter Services Malta HSM, Malta Int'l.
In , the government launched a study into laying an airstrip. Three years earlier, it had forwarded plans to the European Union for a metre-long grass airfield on Gozo with the aim of tapping into EU funding for the estimated EUR14 million project.
The airstrip was meant to be completed by and be capable of handling both internal flights and air traffic from surrounding regions. The local government of Sardinia, an autonomous region in Italy, has launched an urgent tender to replace Alitalia AZ, Rome Fiumicino on territorial continuity routes to mainland Italy once the flag carrier goes out of business on October 14, ITA is formally a new company that cannot automatically assume any of Alitalia's assets or contracts.
This same year saw the introduction of the first instrument landing system in Malta and this equipment was installed on runway Therefore the first plans about the development of Luqa Airport for civil purposes began to be drawn up, and work on the realisation of these plans started in The work involved, consisted of extending runway to a length of 11, feet and equipping it with a Category 2 instrument landing system.
This runway was chosen for development, rather than runway , because it was the runway in the prevailing wind direction and because difficult terrain made further runway extensions impossible. The runway , which was in reality completely rebuilt after most of the old runway was demolished, was inaugurated on 1st October and a National Airline Air Malta Boeing was the first aircraft to land on this runway. The new runway was designed for the operations of all civil aircraft expected to be brought into use till the turn of the century.
Whereas previously a Boeing aircraft landed in emergency at Luqa in on the old runway , the new runway saw an ever increasing use made by these large airliners both for pilot training purposes as well as for civil scheduled and unscheduled commercial operations. There are 18 gates at the airport, some of which require passengers to walk or take a shuttle bus to the main terminal.
Both the arrivals and departures halls are on the same floor, separated by a central hall. There are several covered and uncovered public parking lots that function as both short- and long-term lots. All are within walking distance of the terminal. The first minutes of parking are always free. After that, rates are as follows: Up to one hour is 2 euros and one to two hours is 3 euros, scaling up to a maximum of 15 euros for 12 to 24 hours.
Each subsequent day is also 15 euros. Remember not to leave your parking stub in the car, as you'll need it to pay at one of several ATMs before you can leave the parking area. If you are driving from Valletta, the 9-kilometer trip to the airport is a fairly direct shot along Route 6, which merges onto Route 1.
The trip should only take about 15 minutes under the right conditions. However, as traffic jams in Valletta and on the highways can slow you down, be sure to allow some extra time.
If you're traveling from Mdina, Mgarr, or other areas in the southwest, pick up the Triq L-Imdina road and follow it east, watching for signs for the airport. There are four public bus lines that serve MLA, connecting it to points across Malta. Tickets can be purchased on-board, and cost 2 euros from June to October and 1.
The journey from the airport to Valletta takes about 20 minutes, and buses run every half hour. The airport bus stop is just outside the departures hall.
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