Aviation as a powerhouse industry - Frank Psaila
Ryanair is to service some of its aircraft in Malta at a new €20 million maintenance and overhaul facility alongside Malta International Airport. The Ryanair group has some 500 aircraft. This new investment is expected to create 250 new jobs. It is another milestone in the evolution of our country’s aviation sector which has grown exponentially over the last two decades.
In 2003, Lufthansa Technik opened a large facility servicing its aircraft in Malta. Since then, major international airlines set up shop in Malta, creating hundreds of new jobs. Only recently, Wizz Air set up a new airline – Wizz Air Malta – with its principal place of business in Malta. Aviation has become a powerhouse industry. Globally, it is estimated that the industry supports $3.5 trillion of the world’s gross
domestic product (GDP).
Malta’s aviation industry comprises a multitude of sectors such as maintenance and repair; research and development; call centre operations; back-office support; flight training; financial services and ICT for the industry; and research and development on unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Safi Aviation Park, a €40 million investment on a 240,000 square metre facility, was pivotal...