Brussels-Malta with Air Malta

[sn26567]

It was time for me to take a holiday for the first time since May 2016. I had enjoyed a previous stay in Malta, hence it would be Malta again. I booked the complete trip through Pegase (Thomas Cook), hence I was allowed the full luxury treatment. Flights by Air Malta.

There are only two flights a day to Malta (Air Malta & Ryanair), both operated by Malta-based crew, and they are both at the same hour! As if Ryanair wanted to push Air Malta out of the route...

Two simultaneous flights to Malta. I took the better one.

It started with the fast track at Brussels Airport. Wow! I whisked full speed through the controls, at the evening peak hour!

Afterwards, I was invited to the Diamond Lounge. As it was mentioned on my ticket that no meals werre provided on board, I had a nice little dinner in the lounge.

The diamond lounge

Some food and drinks from the Diamond lounge

While eating I saw the board mentioning that my flight would be delayed by 15 minutes. Not bad enough to cut my appetite.

Soon enough my flight was called at gate A57. Tangolima had initially announced the aircraft would be 9H-AEO (City of Valletta, cultural capita of Europe 2018), but later he announced a plane change. It would be the normal livery

Departure delayed by 15 minutes

Air Malta A320 9H-AEP at gate in BRU

Flight: Air Malta KM421 codeshared with Brussels Airlines (SN4001) and Etihad Airways
Date : 04/01/2017
Aircraft: Airbus A320 registered 9H-AEP
From-To: Brussels - Malta (BRU-MLA)
Seat: 7F -> 7A
Scheduled/Effective Time of Departure: 20:10/20:30 (GMT+1)
Scheduled/Effective Time of Arrival: 22:50/22:52 (GMT+1)
Scheduled/Effective Duration of the flight: 2 hr 40 min/2 hr 22 min

When I boarded the plane, my seat 7F, as well as 7D and 7E were occupied by a family that had been assigned 7A-B-C. No problem: I switched to 7A with the thanks of the stewardess and had a free seat next to me.

The KM A320 is still equipped with 168 thick-padded seats, providing a much more confortable ride than the new Recaro and other slim seats. But I was told they are also switching to the cramped configuration

Our aircraft was parked next to Brussels Airlines' A320 OO-SND.

Next to us, the Brussels Airlines Airbus A320 OO-SND

Departure was thus 20 minutes late, and take-off from the usual 25R, followed by an immediate left turn (sorry, Kraainem and Wezembeek-Oppem).

Short left turn immediately after take-off from runway 25R

Once at the cruising altitude at FL350 we were served a free meal, contrarily to what I expected: a tuna sandwich and a bottle of water.

A free snack (a rarity nowadays): a tuna sandwich and water

Flying over Milan

Two hours and 20 minutes after take-off, we landed in Luqa (the place of Malta Airport) on runway 31. I was lucky enough to see 9H-AEO (City of Valletta) arriving just next to our plane one minute after us.

9H-AEP on the ground in Valletta

Itinerary KM421 on 04/01/2017

KM421.PNG.jpg (130.81 KiB) Viewed 1689 times

And, by the way, Ryanair schedules the same departure time as Air Malta, but an arrival time 20 minutes later than Air Malta: no surprise they can claim to be on-time. And despite our late departure, Ryanair arrived 20 minutes later than Air Malta!

All in all, a nice flight, although the free hot meal had disappeared compared to the same flight 5 years ago. The nice treatment continued with a taxi to the hotel and the beginning of the holiday.

To be followed by the return flight, at the earliest when it will have been completed

[TheFlyingSultan]

Hello André,

Thanks for the report, I've always been curious about this flight. I was once booked on LCA-MLA-BRU, with an Emirates codeshare but that was canceled on short notice. How was the pax load?
Too bad you weren't flying in daylight, I bet the views over the Tyrrhenian Sea must be lovely.
Cheers!

TFS

[sn26567]

Thanks for the report, I've always been curious about this flight. I was once booked on LCA-MLA-BRU, with an Emirates codeshare but that was canceled on short notice. How was the pax load?
Too bad you weren't flying in daylight, I bet the views over the Tyrrhenian Sea must be lovely.

Load was about 70%. Comfortable!

I missed the Tyrrhenian Sea, indeed, but I saw Milan fully illuminated.

My return flight this evening will take off during daylight so I will have the opportunity to see the Sea!