Air Malta (Malta International) wet-leased a second A320-200 earlier this month to cover the maintenance of one of its in-house aircraft of the type and compensate for the delayed delivery of an A320-200N.
Operated by Fly2Sky (F6, Sofia), LZ-MDK (msn 1422) was ferried from Sofia to Malta International on April 6, 2023, and began operating on behalf of Air Malta the next day, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. The aircraft joined 9H-SLD (msn 3396) operated by SmartLynx Airlines Malta (2N, Malta International), which has been in service with Air Malta since January 2023.
The state-owned carrier said its summer schedule requires eight aircraft and while it has the crews for all eight, it currently lacks the aircraft, as two of its A320-200s are in maintenance at Amman Queen Alia. 9H-AEQ (msn 3068) is scheduled to exit the fleet, being replaced with a recently delivered fifth A320-200N, 9H-NEE (msn 11366), which entered service on March 26, 2023. The other A320, 9H-AEP (msn 3056), is scheduled to complete maintenance and return to scheduled flights around mid-May 2023.
Air Malta said it expected to take two A320-200Ns in the first quarter of 2023, but only one was delivered.
"During this transition period of aircraft moving in and out of its fleet, it has been necessary to wet-lease two alternative aircraft to cover the scheduled flying," the carrier said. "At no point in time were the disruptions over Easter caused by either a shortage of pilots or cabin crew as reported in certain sections of the media. Air Malta has the correct flight deck and cabin crew complement to operate its entire Summer 2023 program."
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Air Malta's in-house fleet currently comprises eight aircraft: three A320s (including the two units in maintenance at Amman airport) and five A320-200Ns.
