The RAF Red Arrows aerobatic team will be returning to the Malta International Airshow which will be held between September 23 and 24, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo announced on Wednesday. The team was last here two years ago.

The Red Arrows team will include Squadron Leader Graeme Muscat, who is of Maltese descent. Sqn Ldr Muscat had already visited Malta during the Malta International Airshow in 2017.

This year’s show, organised by the Malta Aviation Society, will feature static shows at the Safi aviation park and SR Technics' apron and a flying display over St Paul's Bay.

SR Technics (an aircraft engineering company) will also be hosting an open weekend at its premises throughout the air show.

Ten countries will be taking part in this year’s airshow, which for the first time includes the Swiss Air Force, which will be participating with F5 fighter jets.

Austria’s Flying Bulls will also be participating. The group flies historic aircraft including, according to the airshow's website, a North American B-25J "Mitchell" bomber and a  Lockheed P-38L "Lightning" fighter, both of which played a prominent part in the Second World War.  

A Mitchell bomber. Although land based, aircraft of this type carried out one of the most outstanding operations of the second world war when they took off from an aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo.

Other participating aircraft will include a German Fir Force Eurofighter and a  Romanian Air Force Antonov AN-30. 

Malta Tourism Authority chief executive Carlo Micallef said that the authority was committed to creating a programme of events that not only attracts tourists but that locals can enjoy in their own country.