Air Malta

Not Verified | 01-Sep-2023 flight from UK to Malta delayed 2 hours. Impact got to accommodation 2am. 02-Sep-2023 flight from UK to Malta delayed 3 hours. Impact missed seeing family in Malta before connecting flight departed. 02-Sep-2023 flight from Malta to Palermo delayed 4 hours. Impact car rental closed. Arrived at accommodation 3am. Having to pay 40 EUR for taxis. Claiming under EU 261. 10-Sep-2023 flight from Malta to UK. They have removed my wife from the booking because she flew a day early on 01-Sep-2023 and claimed she was a no show on the original flight on 02–Sep-2023. We requested her to be re-added to the flight. We were promised a call back within 1 hour. We never got a call back and have been unable to get through on the phone all day. Impact we had to book a new flight with EasyJet costing 550 EUR. The flight is departing at 2:30am so we won’t get any sleep. We cancelled 2x flights in June for future trips and we are eligible for 50% refund. After months of chasing we still don’t have the refund. We are questioning Air Malta’s solvency at the moment and we won’t be booking any future flights for fear of Air Malta going bankrupt along with the incredibly poor, stressful and expensive experience.

Not Verified | All flights were on time and comfortable. Cabin crew were friendly and welcoming. On board snacks to buy were good value. Seat pitch good average. Last year we few with this company from Madrid to Malta and return. Both flights very good.

✅ Trip Verified |  Overall, the experience was not good. The outbound flight from LHR to MLA was delayed 2 hours and the return segment was delayed 1 hour on the screen but in reality we arrived back 1.5 hours late. Very limited information re delay and no real apology for it. On both legs I paid for and selected seats at the time of booking and on checking in found that we had been moved 10 rows back on both legs, there was no prior notification of this and no apology. I don't know why I paid to select specific seats at the time of booking if I was not provided these. Overall not a great experience. Other family members also travelled to Malta at the same time to join our holiday and flew on EasyJet and Ryanair, their flights were on time and they received the seats they paid for. My reason for selecting Air Malta was the convivence of flying from LHR which is much closer to me, in reality with the delay I could have travelled on public transport from Gatwick and been home at the same time by travelling on a so called "low cost carrier" with what it would seem is a much better overall experience. Onboard the service was fine and the cabin was fine my disappointment was only in relation to above. The fare I would describe as reasonable because I booked 7 months in advance so on par with other carriers.

✅ Trip Verified | At the check-in in Vienna the clerk called Air Malta to check if I could travel with my sailing life jacket which contains a 22g CO2 cartridge. He confirmed that Air Malta granted permission for this. I then asked the check-in clerk to confirm with the captain that this was ok. He came back to me say that the captain had given his permission. I flew to Malta and my bag was not on the conveyor on arrival. I found out two days later by sending my wife to Vienna Airport that security in Vienna found the CO2 cartridge and asked Air Malta if they can release it. Air Malta declined and my bag was confiscated. My wife managed to access the bag, and after removing my life jacket the bag was flown to Malta. Not only did Air Malta not honour their agreement to carry my bag, but they did not inform me of what had happened. To make things worse, after trying more than 30 times - all day in fact - to call Air Malta I did not succeed in getting any information. I was never informed as to what had happened. Without sending someone to Vienna airport at great inconvenience I would never have known what happened to my Bag.

Not Verified | The flight we took was initially delayed twice, and then cancelled afterwards, making us lose the second flight from Amsterdam to New York. Therefore, as per EU regulation, we are entitled to compensation (600 euros each for two people), which they acknowledge. After having sent the bank wire details on the 17th of April, regardless the several call occurred, they still did not complete the payment without providing any kind of reason for the delay. At this point, after all this time, seems clear that their decision is not to pay at all and to wait until they will become a new entity (as has been announced over the media).

✅ Trip Verified | Aircraft changes are normal these days. Flight experience ok, nothing to say against it. Industry standard seat pitch, inflight food and drinks. Very good fare. But my emergency extra legroom reservation was not respected, only the seat number. I was asked if I have reserved 13D, but they did not mention that this is no emergency row anymore. So losing three of my points. Beside the badly trained check-in staff, I do not understand why an airline with one airplane type is giving to some few planes other row numbers for emergency rows, when selling them for higher fees.

Not Verified | Worst flying experience ever. We have to wait 17 hours to get back home. We sleep on floors but then security comes and tells us we’re not even allowed to sit on the floor. They want us to stand for 17 hours? On the flight from Vienna to Malta we weren’t even offered drinks and I don’t mean free drinks but not even an option that we could buy them. If you want to travel with Air Malta don’t do it. Save your time, money and everything. If you still want to go beware that you going to end up in trouble.

Not Verified | Chaotic boarding because of all hand luggage that clearly exceeded allowances. Overpriced, poor quality onboard food and drink (€3.50 for cheap instant coffee). Nearly an hour before they deplaned and another hour for baggage. No real baggage drop, inadequate check-in desks at MLA and very slow. Seat change just to satisfy late check in's and put me in an exit row despite telling them I had medical conditions that should exclude me. They used the old 'late aircraft change ' excuse. Air Malta have a common seating plan throughout the fleet, making seat changes unnecessary in the event of an aircraft change. Same baggage chaos coming back. All that lost revenue from hold baggage charges that could be levied! Ground staff and cabin crew need customer service training.

✅ Trip Verified | It is an absolute joke that Air Malta does not have an app in 2023. Plus the prices are absolutely ridiculous. I don't know what revenue strategy they try but should definitely reconsider it. It make zero sense. A ticket in economy costs 430 euros and a ticket in business class 290 euros on their website, at the same time, and for the same destination. I understand this is not a low cost carrier however it really acts like one. Too bad you don't have other options if you want to reach the destination.

✅ Trip Verified | The customer service was non-existent and shambolic. On the return flight KM102 from Malta to London Heathrow (3rd January), there was over a 3 hour delay for the passengers in obtaining luggage, this is longer than the actual flight. There was no onsite Air Malta customer service to assist and advise what was going on or when to expect our luggage. Due to the evening flight and long ongoing drive home my family had to leave without our luggage. This meant I had the unfortunate situation of dealing with the central customer services based in Malta to try and recover my luggage. To date Air Malta’s central customer services have still not responded to my emails. Their advice provided by phone was nonsensical. Due to no local phone number, I had to pay international rates to contact them for their absolutely useless support. Subsequently, I drove 3.5 hours back to Heathrow at a later date in my own time and at my own expense to see if I could obtain my luggage. Fortunately this was successful, however I found that my luggage had been sitting unsecured in terminal 4’s luggage reclaim for 4 days. There was nothing to stop people taking the whole suitcase or personal possessions. To sum up I will never use this airline again, this airline is an insult to the nation of Malta. Air Malta are acting like the worst low cost carrier, whilst charging their tickets at a premium.