Emirates has resumed its thrice-weekly flight service from Dubai to Malta via Larnaca, Cyprus on Wednesday, in a move reaffirming the airline’s close ties with Malta.

Emirates flight EK 109 landed at Malta International Airport (MIA) on Wednesday afternoon, where passengers and crew were warmly welcomed by the Emirates Country Manager in Malta, Paul Fleri Soler, MIA CEO Alan Borg, and Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) Chief Officer Strategic Development and Deputy CEO, Leslie Vella.

Mr Fleri Soler welcomed the restart of the route, saying: “We are delighted to resume operating our three weekly flights from Dubai to Malta via Larnaca, and are proud to be Malta’s exclusive east-bound carrier.

“Operating to and from Malta for the past 23 years, Emirates has become synonymous with the strong link that exists between Dubai and Malta, both in terms of leisure as well as business travel.

“Over the years we have carried thousands of business people as well as holidaymakers, lifting the curtain on Dubai, one of the world’s most exciting destinations. We will continue to assist Maltese industry by providing shorter connecting times and valuable cargo space for more efficiency”.

The route will depart to and from Malta three times weekly this summer, being served by the airline’s modern and widebody Boeing 777-300LR aircraft, which offers 42 lie-flat seats in Business and 386 ergonomically designed seats in Economy class.

Customers can again look forward to more than 4,500 channels of entertainment on ice, the airline’s award-winning inflight entertainment system, along with regionally-inspired gourmet meals.

On the part of MIA, Mr Borg stated: “We are pleased with Emirates’ decision to resume a triweekly operation to and from Malta especially at this time of uncertainty. The restoration of air connectivity following unprecedented disruptions to travel is particularly crucial for island states, and we are confident that Emirates’ services will contribute greatly to putting the Maltese islands on the map again.”

Similarly, Ms Vella welcomed the flight as another step in connecting Malta to its tourism source markets: “Emirates is a very important network airline which connects Malta to a number of long haul markets in a seamless manner.

“Malta and Emirates have a very long-standing relationship and the airline’s return to Malta after temporarily stopping services due to COVID-19 is a further step in reopening these distant markets”.