Preparations for the 2003 summer schedule are now fully underway, and Lauda Air will be presenting another attractive destination in its holiday flight programme next summer - the company has announced it will begin flying to the Maltese capital of Valletta five times every week. Lauda Air will use a modern Boeing 737- 400 (either with 164 Economy Class seats or with 50 Business Class and 104 Economy Class) or a Boeing 737 -800 (16 Amadeus Class seats, 142 Economy Class). Due to the minimal flight time between the two countries, Malta is perfectly suited to the network of the Austrian Airlines Group, with its numerous connecting flights at Vienna Airport.

Lauda Air Managing Director, Thomas Suritsch, made the following statement about the strategic objectives of this new route: “With five flights a week and early morning/late evening connections from Malta, we are offering our holiday passengers an attractive new Mediterranean destination and business travellers an outstanding product both to and via Vienna. With a flight time of just 2 hours 30 minutes, this destination is particularly well-suited to passengers wishing to escape to the sun for a while.”

Flight times from 2003 summer schedule onwards:

Flight day Departure city/time Arrival city/time Flight no.
Mon, Tue,
Wed, Fri, Sun from Vienna 20.00 to Malta 22.30 OS 9717

Mon, Wed, Thu from Malta 06.30 to Vienna 09.00 OS 9718
Mon, Fri from Malta 23.20 to Vienna 01.50+ OS 9718

The European mini-state and EU membership candidate lies between Sicily and the North African coast and consists of three islands, Malta, Gozo and Comino. Though the population of the islands is just 380,000, the Maltese are an independently minded people. Their language - written with Latin characters - is similar to Arabic, and place names such as Rabat and Mdina are often reminiscent of their Islamic neighbours. Malta has a great deal of beautiful sights to offer as a holiday island: the capital Valletta as the island’s pulsating heart, Mdina, focus of the Maltese aristocracy, the island of Gozo with its rural idylls - the island state is always well worth a visit. Malta has also become known for its cultural abundance and as a permanently sunny destination.

Bookings can be made around the clock from December 16th 2002 onwards. Simply call (+43) 5 1789 (all calls in Austria charged at local rate), visit a travel agency of your choice or book online at www.aua.com.

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