Air Malta has successfully concluded an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways by which it will be wet-leasing two Airbus aircraft for the winter period starting September 1st 2007. The Maltese airline has also concluded another agreement to provide operational support on another Airbus A320 aircraft owned by Etihad.

The two Air Malta A320 aircraft with registration 9H-AEP and 9H-AEQ will be wet-leased and will be operated by Air Malta cockpit and cabin crew. They are expected to fly on Etihad’s routes from Abu Dhabi to Beirut, Dammam, Karachi, Muscat, Bahrain, Cairo, Doha, Kuwait, Amman, Damascus and Tehran.

Following another agreement reached between the two airlines, another A320 aircraft recently purchased by Etihad will also be maintained by Air Malta engineers and flown by Air Malta pilots.

In a statement issued by Etihad, the airline said that it is adding the first narrow-bodied aircraft to its fleet as it expands regional flights with the aim of developing its regional network.

Commenting on these agreements Air Malta Chief Executive Joe Cappello said, “We are looking forward to this operation. This is more good news for Air Malta as through these agreements with Etihad we managed to lease our excess winter capacity whilst generating additional revenue for the airline. This lease has also created new opportunities for our pilots and engineers to work abroad and we believe that in the course of these wet-leases our employees will continue garnering further experience in their professional careers. Last winter we had also managed to wet-lease two other Airbus aircraft to two foreign operators; an Air Malta aircraft operated from Santiago in Chile while another aircraft operated from Tripoli.”

“These agreements are a further confirmation of the high standards we enjoy amongst our staff, operations and equipment. We wish to thank all our employees and management who have worked hard on finalising these leases and to all our crew who will be operating them,” added Cappello.

Etihad currently has a fleet of 27 wide-body aircraft and it placed a US$2.2 billion order with Airbus for 12 new wide-body aircraft in June. The order includes four A340-600s, five A330 passenger aircraft and three A330 freighters.