The Maltese are twice as likely to face long flight delays as travellers in other EU countries, according to new EU data published on Tuesday.
Almost a third of Maltese (30%) say that their flights were delayed by at least two hours, more than any other country in the EU and twice as high as the bloc’s average of 16%.
A further one in ten say that they arrived at their destination more than three hours later than expected, second only to travellers in Sweden.
The finding puts Malta’s travel woes over the past years into stark relief.
Two-hour flight delays in Malta have more than doubled from the 13% recorded when the survey was last held in early 2019. At the time, Malta’s delay rates were comfortably below the EU average.
Before its demise, Air Malta had long been plagued by delays, pinning the blame on a shortage of aircrafts and technical issues.
Travellers have also been hit by other delays across several airlines, caused by a myriad of factors, from air traffic control issues to wayward drones and, earlier this month, volcanic explosions.
Cancelled flights and misplaced luggage
The data reveals that people in Malta have faced several other unexpected obstacles in their trips, from flight cancellations (8%), to lost or delayed luggage (7%) and finding that their flight had been overbooked (1%).
Meanwhile, 57% of Maltese say they were lucky enough not to face any disruptions whatsoever.
But this is 12 percentage points lower than it was in 2019 and far lower than the 70% of European travellers who said they experienced smooth travels.
Ferry use doubles
The survey also suggests that the use of sea transport is becoming more widespread amongst the Maltese, with 54% having used ship or ferry services over the past year, more than anyone else in the EU.
This has doubled in the past five years, shooting up by 27 percentage points since the survey was last carried out in 2019.
Earlier this year, Transport Minister Chris Bonett said that the number of people using ferry services in the Marsamxett and Grand Harbour surged after the service was made free for Tallinja card holders.
Other sea travel services are also likely to have contributed to this increase in numbers.
Aside from the customary Gozo ferry, a fast ferry service between Malta and Gozo launched in 2021 remains operational, despite concerns over its financial feasibility.
Meanwhile, ferry services between Malta and Sicily have also proven popular with daytrippers and holidaymakers.
The survey asked thousands of people across the EU, including 507 people in Malta, about their travel habits. The survey was carried out throughout January and early February this year.