Updated 3.20pm with airline statement

An Air Malta flight from Rome was delayed by several hours on Thursday after the aircraft encountered a bird strike as it was landing at Fiumicino airport. 

In a brief statement, the airline said technicians were carrying out precautionary technical and safety checks on the plane before clearing it to operate flight KM613 from Rome to Malta.

That flight was originally scheduled to depart Rome at 10.10am. It eventually left Rome at 2.40pm and was scheduled to land in Malta at 4.10pm.

Bird strikes are a significant threat to airline safety and are estimated to cause around $1.2 billion in annual damages to commercial aircraft each year. They most often happen during take-off and landing. 

It is the second time in a month that a bird strike has disrupted an Air Malta flight. On New Year’s Eve, a plane heading to Malta from Berlin had to turn back shortly after take-off due to a flock of birds hitting it.

That incident had a spillover effect on the airline’s flight schedule, forcing it to cancel New Year’s Day flights to and from Paris.