Thunderstorm causes diversion of three flights

Pilots were forced to divert three flights heading to Malta due to the thunderstorm approaching the Maltese islands. MaltaToday is informed that the flights in question were an Air Malta flight from Amsterbam, a Ryanair flight from Girona and another Ryanair flight from Valencia.

These were all diverted to Sicily.

Monitoring closely current situation @Malta Airport delays; I am in contact with all related parties #MIA & #MATS for the necessary action

— Edward Zammit-Lewis (@ZammitLewisEdw) November 19, 2016

Taking to Twitter, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that he was closely monitoring the situation and was in contact with Malta International Airport and the Malta Air Traffic Services.

Contacted by MaltaToday, the minister confirmed that the diversions were unrelated to Wednesday’s events, when flights were diverted to Catania due to ongoing works on the airport’s instrument landing system (ILS).

“Verifications carried out by the ministry show that pilots, at their own discretion and after assessing the situation, opted to divert their flights due to the thunderstorms,” Zammit Lewis said.

The minister went on to confirm that, weather permitting, MIA will be bringing in a foreign crew to carry out calibration works on the ILS.