WATCH: Hamrun street turned Winter Wonderland as artificial snow falls over passers-by

Dec 10 2022

Malta’s climate doesn’t really entertain the possibility of snow as sub-zero temperatures are something truly unheard of in this country. Nevertheless, for the Christmas lovers we oh so truly are, we’ll take absolutely anything we can get.

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That’s why this TikTok of a woman and a child revelling in the snow in front of a Hamrun shopping complex is one of the most wholesome things we’ve seen this week.

Complemented by the recent drop in temperatures and the harp-bestrewn French music in the background, the short but endearing video truly shows a moment of innocent Christmas bliss.

Are you looking forward to Christmas?

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“Nothing decided”; TM addresses circulating sheet of increased contravention fines

Dec 10 2022

Contacted by our newsroom, a Transport Malta spokesperson has stated “as part of our plan of action on road safety and strengthening of enforcement and discipline in roads, amongst a number of other measures, an evaluation of incidents and their causes is being made, together with contraventions related to them. At this stage there is nothing decided or concluded. An official communication will be made when the exercise is finalised.”

TM’s communication confirms that the photo that is currently circulating showing a list of significantly-increased contravention fines is not official.

Earlier this year, the Prime Minister and Transport Minister announced that a new strategy is in the works in a bid to curb the concerning amount of accidents taking place on the Maltese Islands.

Back in November, Robert Abela had stated that fines for mobile phones use whilst driving were set to be increased in addition to a number of other measures.

2022 was a record year for Malta with regards to traffic fatalities, with an average of around 2 deaths per month this year.

Do you think these new amounts should come into place?

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Domestic violence reports doubled after Bernice Cassar murder, minister reveals

Dec 10 2022

During an event held towards the end of the 16 days of activism against domestic violence, Minister for Home Affairs Byron Camilleri revealed that domestic violence reports doubled after the murder of Bernice Cassar.

One of the biggest concerns emerging from the University of Malta’s Faculty for Social Wellbeing’s research was that a court decision takes an average of 97 weeks to be made, potentially putting those involved at risk.

Between 2016 and 2020, 55 cases were taken to court, with 11 resulting in a prison sentence, 11 being served a suspended sentence, 7 given a probation order and another 7 ordered treatment. Six cases were given conditional release, 16 were released on a personal guarantee, one case was given a sentence of community service and another 8 were given fines.

Dr. Lydia Abela, who commissioned the study, stated that the research will give a clearer picture of the ‘who’ and ‘how’ of domestic violence in Malta and why people are failing victim to such abuse.

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Passenger traffic through Malta Airport registers recovery of 88% in November

Dec 10 2022

Malta International Airport’s November traffic amounted to 433,621 passengers. This total translates to a recovery of 87.9 per cent of pre-pandemic traffic, which is the strongest recovery rate Malta International Airport has registered so far.

The number of seats available on flights to and from Malta International Airport remained at 19.9 per cent below 2019 levels. On the other hand, the seat load factor (SLF) gained 7.7 percentage points, reaching an all-time high occupancy rate for November of 85.8 per cent.

Malta International Airport’s top five markets remained unchanged from October, with Italy topping the leaderboard for the ninth consecutive month. In contrast with previous months which had seen Italy register growth over pre-pandemic numbers, in November, the Italian market suffered a drop of 8.2 per cent in passenger numbers which was mainly due to a decrease in seat capacity.

Italy was followed by the United Kingdom and Germany, both of which continued to recover at a slow pace. France and Poland, which ranked fourth and fifth, registered growth of 33.8 per cent and 39.8 per cent respectively compared to 2019 levels.

The Polish market achieved a high seat load factor (SLF) of 91 per cent despite an increase in seat capacity over 2019, and was one of five markets in the top 10 drivers of passenger traffic for November to exceed the 90 per cent mark.

The airport’s winter schedule officially came into effect in November, with one of the highlights for the month being the return of Air Serbia following the airline’s temporary suspension of services at the onset on the pandemic.

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