VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – New data published by the European Union shows that the Maltese are twice as likely to face long flight delays as travellers in other EU countries.

30% of Maltese said that their flights were delayed by at least two hours, more than any other country in the EU and twice as high as the bloc’s average of 16%.

One in ten said that they arrived at their destination more than three hours later than expected, second only to travellers in Sweden.

Two-hour flight delays in Malta have more than doubled from the 13% recorded when the survey was last held in early 2019. At the time, Maltàs delay rates were comfortably below the EU average.

Before Air Malta ceased its operations, Maltàs national airline had long been plagued by delays as a result of shortage of aircrafts, technical issues and industrial actions.

Travellers have also been hit by other delays across several airlines, caused by a myriad of factors, from air traffic control issues to wayward drones and, earlier this month, volcanic explosions in Sicily.

The data reveals that people in Malta have faced several other unexpected obstacles in their trips, from flight cancellations (8%), to lost or delayed luggage (7%) and finding that their flight had been overbooked (1%).

The survey asked thousands of people across the EU, including 507 people in Malta, about their travel habits. The survey was carried out throughout January and early February this year.

– Photo Malta International Airport –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews