Hi Fly Malta
IATA ICAO Callsign
3L HFM MOONRAKER
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
AOC #MT-24
Operating basesMalta International Airport
Fleet size19
Parent companyHi Fly
HeadquartersSkyparks Business Centre, Malta International Airport
Websitehifly.aero

Hi Fly Malta is a Maltese charter airline based at Malta International Airport and a subsidiary of the Portuguese charter airline Hi Fly.

History

Hi Fly Malta started operations in early 2013 with one Airbus A340-600 formerly operated by Virgin Atlantic with one more pre-owned on order[1][2] and planned to start scheduled operations to destinations in North America. During 2015, all of the airlines' aircraft had been stored and in May 2015 the A340-600s were sold to Al Naser Airlines, a front company for Mahan Air.[3]

Hi Fly Malta was reactivated in September with the re-registration of one A340-300 from the parent Portuguese company on the Maltese Business Registry and a second A340-300 was added in early 2016 that had previously flown for Sri Lankan Airlines.[4] Several former Emirates A340-300 airframes were added in 2017.

In the summer of 2018, Hi Fly became the first airline to buy a secondhand Airbus A380, placing an order for two. In autumn 2017, Hi Fly, in a sponsorship of the Turn the Tide on Plastic yacht team in the Volvo Ocean Race, painted one of its A330s in a livery similar to the yacht, with the port side bearing a dirty oceans livery and the starboard side a clean oceans livery.[5][6] On 19 July 2018, its newly painted Airbus A380, registered as 9H-MIP, arrived at the Farnborough Airshow, carrying the Save the Coral Reefs livery.[7] Hi-Fly's A380 saw a brief lease to Norwegian Long Haul in August 2018, which operated the aircraft following engine problems with its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.[8] Norwegian leased the A380 again in late 2018 to help deal with the passenger backlog as a result of the Gatwick Airport drone incident. In July 2020, following the downturn of passenger flight traffic resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the A380 was reconfigured for use as a freight carrier, with most of its seats removed.[citation needed] In November 2020, the company announced that the A380 will be retired at the end of its three-year lease period.[citation needed] On 17 December 2020, the A380 made its final flight to Toulouse.

One A319 was chartered to the now-defunct Brazilian Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos. In November 2021, it landed at Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport and re-registered as PS-SIL to be converted to passenger configuration at TAP Hangar, but this never happened. After 3 months in Brazil the aircraft was scheduled to fly back to Europe and had its registration reverted back to 9H-XFW.[9]

Destinations

Hi Fly Malta has no scheduled destinations. Its planes operate on a charter and ACMI basis. One of its Airbus A340-300s (Registered 9H-TQM) was reconfigured for Swiss Space Systems prior to its liquidation, and retained a black livery with the Swiss Space Systems logo on the horizontal stabilizer prior to its retirement,[4] while its other airframes are unmarked except for registration.

Fleet

A Hi Fly Malta Airbus A340-300
Hi Fly Malta's former only Airbus A380-800 with the "Save the Coral Reef" livery

Current fleet

As of May 2023, the Hi Fly Malta fleet consists of the following aircraft:[10][11][12]

Hi Fly Malta fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
F C W Y Total
Airbus A319-100 1 — – – – 150 150
Airbus A330-200 3 — – 18 36 214 268 One leased to TAAG Angola Airlines
– 14 31 267 314
Airbus A330-300 7 — – 46 – 203 249 One leased to TAAG Angola Airlines
– – – 436 436
Airbus A330-900 2 — 12 42 – 213 267
– 36 – 218 254
– 24 – 267 291
Airbus A340-300 6 — 12 42 – 213 267 One converted to freighter
– 36 – 218 254
– 24 – 267 291
Total 19 —

Former fleet

Hi Fly Malta former fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A321-200 1 2019 2021
Airbus A340-600 4 2013 2015
Airbus A380-800 1 2018 2020

See also

References

  1. ^ "Hi Fly-ers head to Malta". Times of Malta. 25 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Hi Fly apply for Air Operator Certificate - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt.
  3. ^ Mahan Air notice at airliners.de (in German)
  4. ^ a b Kaminski-Morrow2016-04-12T19:52:00+01:00, David. "Hi Fly supplies A340 for commercial zero-gravity flights". Flight Global. Retrieved 27 November 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "New Turn the Tide on Plastic aircraft". Mirpuri Foundation. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Portuguese Hi Fly acquires two used Airbus A380". www.airlive.net. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  7. ^ "PICTURES: Colourful Hi Fly A380 makes Farnborough bow". FLIGHTGLOBAL. 19 July 2018.
  8. ^ Morris, Hugh. "Budget fliers to New York could be upgraded to luxurious first class after Norwegian forced to lease A380". The Telegraph Online. The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Airliner lost brazilian license". 10 February 2022.
  10. ^ "fleet". hifly.aero. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 20.
  12. ^ "Hi Fly Malta Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 2020-02-10.

External links

Airlines of Malta
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