Air links between Malta and Japan on the horizon

Representatives from Transport Malta and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau met in Tokyo earlier this week to discuss the necessary regulatory framework which will permit the establishment of air transport links between both countries, Transport Malta said yesterday.

Transport Malta was part of the trade mission to Japan, led by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Captain Charles Pace, the Director General for Civil Aviation, met with representatives of Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau, Japanese airlines and a number of stakeholders in the aviation industry, with the goal to strengthen relations between the aviation sectors of both countries.

Malta will continue to build on the progress made in these meetings to establish an air services agreement between the two countries. Both delegations reached a common understanding on the routes to be operated by the airlines, capacity entitlements, code sharing, aviation safety, security and other operational arrangements.

The meetings marked an important milestone in Malta’s quest for further international cooperation in the field of aviation.

The air travel industry in Japan supports more than one million jobs and generates more than €70 billion in GDP. Japan is currently conducting a capacity expansion policy with the aim of having an extra 39,000 international flight movements by 2020.

Operators have held discussions with Transport Malta’s Civil Aviation Directorate to increase their fleet or to establish themselves as new operators within our jurisdiction. Others seek to expand their areas of operation and increase their portfolio of licences.

Only last month, TM registered the first operational A380, the largest passenger aircraft in operation, under the Maltese flag.

TM highlighted that Malta is developing into an aviation hub, with a strong yet flexible legal framework and thus positioning itself as an attractive jurisdiction for aircraft registration: “New legislation has breathed new life into Malta’s aviation industry and the country has been steadily building up a cluster of aviation services including maintenance, aircraft management, cargo operations, training, asset financing and slowly but surely, elements of the leasing sector.”