Malta International Airport is one of nine airports worldwide to have been awarded five stars for its COVID-19 health and safety efforts by the leading air transport audit and research organisation – Skytrax.

It followed a three-day audit of the airport’s processes, protocols and premises conducted by one of the organisation’s auditors in line with the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Apart from observations of the health and safety protocols employed at main passenger touch-points, a good part of the audit was dedicated to the testing of almost 60 frequently touched surfaces, ranging from vending machine buttons to escalator handrails, in order to determine their sanitisation levels. Tests carried out on security trays used by passengers at the Security Screening Area returned particularly impressive results, MIA said. 

CEO Alan Borg said this achievement did not mean that MIA would be resting on its laurels. "As we brace ourselves for busier summer days, we remain committed to keep evolving the airport experience by taking on board the expert advice provided by Skytrax and focusing on certain areas of operation highlighted in the audit report which may become increasingly more challenging to manage as traffic picks up,” he said.