Air Malta

Catania - Malta. Queuing at Catania a complete mess and took approx 45 minutes. Once on board allocated seats in row two were filled by two pasengers travelling through from Frankfurt. Had to wait with whole family including two tired seven year old daughters until all passengers boarded and then load supervisor arrived to sort things out for us. Purser was very apologetic but unable to do anything until load supervisor could sort things out. Flight otherwise uneventful until the hardest of landings I have experienced in 40 odd years of flying. No apology or comment from flightdeck or cabin crew on this which was a little disconcerting.

Flew Air Malta to Rome. Outward flight was cancelled by Air Malta with the reason that there was an airport strike in Rome Fiumicino. Interestingly enough there was another flight to Rome Fiumicino with another airline departing an hour later that left as scheduled without any delays etc. Air Malta offered re-routing on another of their flights departing 8 hours later but did not give us any vouchers for meals or snacks or rerouting on an earlier flight with another airline as stipulated by EU law. According to them it was not their fault that the flight was cancelled and therefore we were not entitled to anything. Check-in staff helpful both in Malta and Rome Staff at ticketing desk and cabin crew could not care less about our situation or about the passengers in general. The flights were rather uneventful. Meals can be hardly called dinner or lunch as they consisted of half a sandwich and a small water container (100ml). On the way back we had stopover in Reggio Calabria airport which took about an hour during which about 20 passengers got off and on the aircraft. Would not recommend Air Malta for this route as it is currently being served by much more competitive airlines offering direct routes.

I also contacted Air Malta regarding the Volcanic Ash Problem. Sent them a letter by recorded delivery and have not received any acknowledgement. Have also e-mailed them several times in addition to sending them requests via their feedback form on their website. Have not received any response at all! I do intend to pursue this but will never fly with them again if this is how they treat customers.

I have contacted Air Malta re stuck in Malta during Volcanic Ash problem. I wrote to Air Malta five weeks ago and have not even been sent an acknowledgement. I have e-mailed and have been ignored. This is not what I would call customer service.

London-Malta. I wrote a review in June last year on Air Malta which included my comments that we had booked Club Class but the cabin crew were on strike and so there were limitations on what we were served during the flight. I wrote to Air Malta and they gave us a free upgrade on another flight to Malta which we accepted and we have just returned from a short break there. We were allocated seats 3D & 3F on both flights and these were perfectly acceptable. There is no middle seat in Club Class which gives extra space for books papers and other flight paraphernalia. Service was excellent food was of a decent quality and the drinks offered were very acceptable. Our bags were priority tagged at both airports and arrived quickly in Malta not so quickly at Heathrow. We were also given access to the Executive Lounge at LHR via the Club Class tickets but not at Luqa airport fortunately we have Priority Pass membership so gained access using our cards. I would use Air Malta again and feel they deserve credit for offering us an upgrade without it being a long drawn out negotiation.

Malta-Manchester-Malta. Ok flight out but hot main course proved a mystery to many passengers. It looked like lasagne but was supposed to be a cottage pie though did not taste like one. Why does Air Malta continue to offer in flight films/documentaries yet does not offer passengers headsets or even announce that you can use your own. On the return flight food was better but crew offered the bare minimum of service - no smiles read the newspapers for much for the flight and even curtained off row one so they could use it as a rest/reading area. Air Malta always provides a reliable product but its service lacks flair and imagination in the main.

Malta-Munich Business class Hamburg - Malta Economy class. Brilliant business class service with fantastic cheery service from the purser. Champagne offered mid flight too without having to ask for it. Code share on to Hamburg with Lufthansa worked a treat with aircraft parked next door. Return flight from Hamburg Ok but on less spacious aircraft with more tightly packed seating than most other Air Malta planes. Food very average and row one occupied by Air Malta crew.

Not bad however not good either. Airline doesn't provide blankets or headphones and the In flight entertainment is non-existent. The food is not bad at breakfast or dinner. However the A320 lacks from space and you can't use a laptop (even if small) due to the lack of space. The crew is professional however not friendly at all. Don't expect smiles during the inflight service.

Clean comfortable aircraft with reasonable leg room in economy. Food extremely mediocre but what do you expect on an economy budget. Reasonably pleasant cabin crew. Flights on time.

Flight good but you only find out how good a company are when you experience problems. During the recent Volcanic Ash crisis Air Malta offered no help at all to it's customers on outbound flights from Malta to UK. Air Malta provided nothing at all. We were left stranded and had to fund everything ourselves. To date they have failed to reply to all correspondence. They have completely disregarded the European directive relating to compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and cancellation or long delay of flights. I would never ever recommend this company.