The first national airline of Malta after independence was, of course, Air Malta, which was set up in April 1974, just six months before I was born. At the time, Malta’s prime minister was an obnoxious, conceited man who really believed that he knew everything better. He also suffered, shall we say, with delusions of grandeur – also known as short-man syndrome.

When it came to picking a two-letter IATA code for the fledgling carrier, the prime minister immediately insisted on AM – Air Malta. The fact that the AM code was already taken and assigned to Aeromexico, which was established in 1934, was not a deterrent. As far as the prime minister was concerned, the Mexicans would just have to find another two-letter code.

Fortunately, IATA quickly realised that flattery would likely appease the obnoxious prime minister, and so, they convinced him that KM would be the far superior, worthy two-letter code because of its reference to the archipelago’s history and association with the Knights of the Sovereign Order of St. John’s of Jerusalem, Rhodes, and Malta, aka the Knights of Malta. And it worked. And that, then, became the name of this blog – a salute to the airline with which I undertook my first flight at the tender age of three.

Getting to the Airport

At noon I check out of the Phoenicia at City Gate and walk down into the ditch between Duke of York Avenue (Girolamo Cassar Avenue) and St. James’ Cavalier, which is where the B and C stands for the busses are located.

The airport bus departs from stand B1. The inbound from the airport runs nonstop to Valletta, whereas the outbound stops down at Lascaris Wharf, by the old customs house, and then again at Bombi, which gets its name from the Porte des Bombes, the gate to the ante-fortress at Floriana. It’s a journey of about thirty minutes in good traffic.

KM Malta Airlines Business Class Check-In

The interface between SWISS and KM Malta Airlines doesn’t work very reliably. For some reason, I can see the PNR in the KM app when I insert the ticket number, but online check-in is not possible. Therefore, I’m going to have to check in the old-fashioned way at a counter.

The airport is ridiculously busy when I arrive. Fortunately, the two dedicated Business Class counters for KM passengers are not overly busy. The check-in agent issues my boarding pass with no problem at all.

The La Valette Business Class Lounge

Malta Airport is in the middle of a major expansion. And it’s high time for it too because the terminal simply can no longer cope with the amount of passengers passing through it. I exit the obligatory dutyfree shop, make a sharp left and take the lift one floor up to the La Valette Lounge. It’s busy here too, but they’ve also expanded the facility, so I still manage to find a place by the window.

The lounge has a nice selection of hot and cold food. I grab myself a selection of typically Maltese fare and park myself by the window. On the plate in the photo below we have two pieces of ftira ta-tonn, pastizzi tal irkotta u piselli, and imqarrun il-forn.

The traffic mix at Malta Airport is quite interesting, although it leans heavily towards Ryanair. When I first enter the lounge, the Lufthansa to Munich is just starting up, while Frankfurt is in the final stages of boarding.

KM Malta Airlines Business Class Boarding

Boarding for the flight is supposed to start at 14h30 for our 15h00 departure. At 14h30 I leave the lounge and fight my way through the crowds to the lane for priority boarding at gate five. There’s a bit of a delay getting the boarding started, mainly due to weather related ATC restrictions en route.

When boarding eventually starts, it’s for passengers in the premium lane only. They have a dedicated bus transfer, which is rather pleasant. In total, seventeen passengers board the first bus to the aircraft, of which twelve are seated in the Business Class cabin. The others are status card holders with KM Malta Airlines or SWISS.

KM Malta Airlines Business Class Cabin & Seat

There are three rows of Business Class on today’s flight, and the forward cabin is sold out, with twelve out of twelve seats occupied. I’m seated on 2F, the window. The pitch on row two is good. I place my backpack under the middle seat in front. However, when the cabin crew pass through the cabin, she spots it and tells me that, being made of aluminium, she’d prefer to store it in the overhead bin for me.

Our aircraft is parked in front of the old terminal building. In the old days, this is where the Boeing B 720s used to park nose in. The construction in red, sticking out over the ramp, is the old viewing terrace. Originally, the terrace was open to the elements, which meant that you got a healthy dose of burned kerosene to sniff as the aircraft did a 180 degrees turn after they pushed off stand. God knows how many hours I must have spent there as a kid.

KM Malta Airlines Business Class Service & Crew

There are five cabin crew on this flight, and all of them are rather young. The two cabin crew working the Business Class cabin are great, though. The overhead bins in the forward cabin are already quite full when I step aboard, but the purser and her colleague immediately step in and do some impressive rearranging, so that everything fits in the end.

While we’re still on the ground there is no service. At 15h40 we finally push off stand and make our way south. We’ll be taking off from runway 31, from the intersection. Our flight time is estimated at two hours, which means we’re likely not going to be able to make up time on our delay.

KM Malta Airlines Business Class Meal – Light Lunch

By the time the fasten seatbelt signs are turned off, we’re already approaching the cost of Sicily. The crew hand out menus for the meal. My better half has ordered the Asian Vegetarian option, and I’m quite surprised that they’ve also provided a menu for that as well.

We’re just passing Palermo airport when the service begins with the distribution of the hot towels.

The presentation of the meal is nice. The main dish is served on a large saucer that is intended to look like a traditional Maltese tile. I don’t try the bresaola, but the melanzane parmigiana is good – especially when, like me, you smother the whole thing in the olive oil and balsamico they also provide on the tray with the butter.

The dessert is a typically Maltese pastry (no matter what the Sicilians say…) called a kannol, which is filled with sweetened ricotta and small pieces of chocolate.

The crew quickly remove the tray once the meal is done, and inquire with each passenger if they’d like anything else. I request a coffee with milk, which is served in a nice looking cup with the Maltese cross on another tile shaped saucer. By the time I finish, we’re just passing Genova and about to make landfall.

Arrival in Zürich

As we approach the Alps, the weather takes a turn for the worse. The turbulence picks up and the sky turns an ominous dark grey. We do three orbits in a holding pattern over the Fricktal. Much to my surprise, when we’re finally released for the approach, it’s from the South for a runway 32 arrival – which is highly unusual at this time of day. We land 55 minutes behind schedule.

Conclusion – KM Malta Airlines

I may, in the past, have harboured a certain resentment towards KM Malta Airlines. However, with this flight I do feel that they have redeemed themselves. The bus transfer for premium passengers is a nice benefit and the crew on this flight gave a polished performance. The meal service was nice, and the presentation was still very Air Malta-esque.

To close this post in the same vein in which it started, I’m adding the two following pictures. One is of St. John’s Co-Cathedral, which is Valletta’s beating heart. The next is of one of the chapels in St. John’s that is home to The Beheading of St. John by Caravaggio.