CONTENTS

p. 50

STEP BACK IN TIME p. 60

A family reminisces summers’ past.

TOWERING BEAUTY p. 62 p. 68 IN THE CANNES p. 74

Dwejra Tower is restored and deserves our attention.

LOL!

We meet Maltese comedian, Steve Bu ġ eja.

Local film-maker tells her story.

IT’S A SIGN p. 83

The man behind Malta’s vintage style signs.

FOOD & DRINK p. 93

Our monthly recipe and restaurant round-up.

AIR MALTA NEWS p. 100

A round-up of this month’s events and news.

DESTINATION INFORMATION p. 102

See our route map with our direct destinations.

FLIGHT AND COMPANY INFORMATION p. 104

All you need to know about flying with Air Malta.

ELECTRONIC DEVICE INFORMATION

Find information with regards to phone, laptop and tablet usage on board here.

From The Chairperson

From The Editor

Dear travellers,

As Summer intensifies and we head into our busiest period, Air Malta welcomes to the fleet our 6th Airbus A320neo. This delivery under Maltese registration 9H – NEF is another step in our fleet renewal project which was initiated in 2019 and is planned for completion by August 2024.

This Summer the airline is set to carry an estimated 1.33 million passengers during the season, as our fleet of eight aircraft continues to operate an average of 157 weekly flights to 23 destinations.

I am delighted to announce that our Winter 2023/24 schedule has now been launche d and is on sale! This will offer our customers up to 111 weekly flights for travel to 17 cities across our network, generating nearly 850,000 seats, and an increase of 29% over the prior year.

Aside from our passenger services, Air Malta is very pleased to be working closely with local Maltese businesses and manufacturing companies in the export of Malta manufactured goods to other EU countries, Mexico, USA, and Nigeria, in conjunction with our worldwide airline network partners.

Air Malta also continues to be involved within the community, actively supporting worthwhile causes, and building sociallyresponsible partnershi ps. We are honoured to have recently supported a fundraising initiative spearheaded by Malta Enterprise for the Richmond Foundation, bringing to Malta for a recital two internationally acclaimed Maltese musicians. Air Malta also carried the Urban Fabric Project team who are behind the Malta installation at the London Design Biennale at the cour tyard of Somerset House. In addition, we announced that we have been named the official Travel Partner for Europride Malta 2023 being held in September 2023.

For your next trip with us this Summer, why not elevate your travel experience and upgrade your flight? Upgrades to Business Class can be made up to 24 hours prior to your departure by going to the newly launched Air Malta shop, a portal to book any extra requirements for your travels. Many extras, including extra baggage, sports equipment, in-flight meals, cabin upgrades and Go-First are available on any of our flights and can be accessed by logging onto our website www.shop.airmalta.com

For more information about Ai r Malta and our flight schedules please visit www.airmalta.com and www.facebook.com/AirMalta and join our newsletter mailing list to receive offers directly in your inbox. We regularly introduce exciting promotional offers and you need to be registered to our newsletter to be able to get notice of our promotions.

I hope you have a great flight!

Thank you for choosing Air Malta. We look forward to seeing you aboard on another one of our flights soon.

David G Curmi EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, AIR MALTA

While many of you will be taking time off work to go on holiday, others are travelling to work or for work. Whatever your journey, our team has worked to get this 127th edition of Il-Bizzilla ready to inform and entertain you on the way.

Putting together a magazine can be likened to a ‘plane ride’: the ‘flatplan’ is our seating plan where we aim to balance the content, ads and information in such a way that it all sits comfortably together and doesn’t encroach on another ‘page’. We have lots of contact with the passengers of this printed vehicle about the upcoming journey – from writers, tourism organisations, PR companies, advertisers, and agencies. Each one has to be lined up and ready for take-off at the printers - but it doesn’t stop there! Once printed and placed onboard, back on the ground the admin tasks start - and before you’ve arrived at the end of the month, the next cycle has already begun.

In this issue, we hope those who have flown before notice the new design; the smooth curves mirror the lines of the wings, we’ve added some shorter articles and, if I may say, this issue is my favourite so far.

In theory, it is always meticulously planned – but in reality, some articles just don’t make the cut whilst others don’t make the deadline. With years of experience under our (seat)belts, we are prepared for such scenarios and by happy coincidence, this issue has a wonderful selection of pieces with a nostalgic feel.

We visit Sliema, which has never gone out of fashion, but this piece shows us why it has retained its popularity over the years. We are at the finish line of a classic boat race; where elegance is an understatement. We get a glimpse of a textile artist’s work – all made from scraps of fabrics, and we read a beautiful piece about one family’s summers, which gives you goosebumps reminiscing the innocence of youth.

Bringing us up to date are numerous events for every genre this month, and as always, a selection of restaurants to recount your own memories of, when you head back.

We hope you enjoy the magazine and your journey, and do send us any feedback!

Monique EDITOR