Air Malta inaugurates its double weekly scheduled service to Lourdes
Air Malta has inaugurated its new twice weekly scheduled service between Malta and Lourdes. The flights to the French city, organised in collaboration with Britannia Tours, are being operated for the summer period every Monday and Friday.
Air Malta’s inaugural flight, which was operated last week, marked the start of a very important and significant journey for the Maltese Christian community. On this flight the painting of San Ġorġ Preca by Gozitan artist Manuel Farrugia was carried on board and displayed in the Sanctuary of Our Lady’s chapel of Lourdes.
This initiative was part of a tour organised by Britannia that included a procession on Saturday led by Auxiliary Bishop of Malta Mgr Dr Joe Galea Curmi and members of the Museum society of Malta who carried a painting and a relic of St George Preca that was placed inside the Sanctuary.
Noel Farrugia from Brittannia Services stated: “Lourdes is a place synonymous for pilgrimage and religious tourism. The beautiful surroundings of the Pyrenees, a region renowned for its magnificent natural heritage, offers travellers the possibility to visit and discover new places. As an agency, Britannia Services is now also offering packages for travel to both Lourdes and the Pyrenees. Together with Air Malta we have invested significantly on this particular route and remain committed not just to develop this route into another popular destination for the Maltese market but also to attract new incoming traffic particularly from the Basque region.”
Paul Sies, Air Malta’s chief Commercial officer added: “We are planning to carry 6,300 passengers on this route on the 21 return flights we have scheduled for this season. The change to a scheduled service is intended to increase traffic on this route. Tarbes Lourdes is a very sought after and known destination for Maltese in summer and regarded as a place of worship and pilgrimages. However, it has much more to offer like a gateway to the Pyrenees, it’s not too far from Toulouse and possibly even more interesting is that it is a gateway to the north of Spain.”
This year Air Malta is celebrating 30 years of service on the Lourdes route after having operated its first flight in March 1988. Over the years it has operated this route incessantly as a charter service and has carried around 180,000 passengers.
Customers can book flights through www.airmalta.com, by calling Air Malta’s Call Centre on +356 2166 2211 from Malta or 0826 102223 from France, from Air Malta sales office at Malta International Airport or from travel agents in Malta and France. Call charges may apply.