Air show still grounded as talks between government, organisers stall

A year after the popular Malta Air Show was called off, talks between the government and the organisers on a sponsorship deal appear to be stalled. The Malta Aviation Society is seeking a three-year agreement to enable it to plan well in advance, but the Tourism Ministry and the Malta Tourism Authority have so far only offered a one-year deal. The air show is usually held in late September. The first edition was held in 1993 and last year's marked its 25th anniversary. Alas, that may well have been the last one to be held by the Malta Aviation Society in its current format. “Air show preparations start in September of the previous year, so, technically, we are already almost out of time for the 2019 edition,” MAS president Joe Ciliberti said. The impasse between the government and the organisers goes back to 2015 when the society was informed by then tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis that he would like the aerial display to move to a seaside location. The society had feared that moving to a free seaside event, separating the event from the static display at the airport, would not be financially sustainable, but Dr Zammit Lewis had said that the ministry would pay “whatever...