Following a fire which was noticed at the Malta International Airports arrivals lounge at around 1:15pm, all upcoming arrivals and departures have been delayed.

The fire lead to an evacuation onto the street in front of the airport and the runway apron. In a follow-up statement issued following the fire, MIA said the aerodrome was temporarily suspended. 

“Passengers are advised to check flight updates on www.maltairport.com before coming to the airport,” MIA announced, and from the looks of things, all flights for at least the next hour have been delayed. A flight from Gatwick which was estimated to land in Malta at around 2pm was diverted, along with two more flights from Heathrow in the coming hour.

An eyewitness said the fire seems to have stemmed from an electricity box, Times of Malta reported. 

In a statement issued to the press some time after the evacuation, MIA reported that the Malta International Airport Fire Services were deployed immediately and that the situation was currently being managed.

“Whilst safety and security is our topmost priority, MIA is working towards bringing operations back to normal as soon as possible,” airport representatives told Lovin Malta.

Newsbook also went live from the airport some time after the fire was reported, with a video showing a long line of people with luggages standing outside the airport entrance.

More updates as we get them

David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).