Malta Airport Coach Fire: Hero Driver Saves 50 Tourists in Dramatic Runway Blaze

Coach Inferno at Malta International: Quick-Thinking Driver Saves 50 Passengers
By Hot Malta Newsroom | 07:45, 14 June 2024

A routine airport run turned into a scene straight out of an action movie yesterday when the bright-yellow passenger coach shuttling tourists from Malta International Airport to St Julian’s burst into flames at the drop-off bay. Black smoke billowed over the runway just after 14:30, halting landings for 18 minutes and sending onlookers scrambling for their phones—but, in true Maltese fashion, nobody dropped their pastizzi.

Driver Karmenu Borg, 54, from Żejtun, smelled burning rubber while still on the airport perimeter road. Instead of pulling onto the busy Skyparks business hub, he stayed on airport grounds, swinging the 52-seater into the furthest emergency lay-by. “I drive Gozitans, I drive Erasmus kids, I drive nannas with three suitcases of ħobż biż-żejt,” Borg told Hot Malta minutes after the incident, still clutching the rosary he keeps on the dashboard. “My job is to deliver them safe. The coach can burn, but not my passengers.”

All 48 travellers—mostly Italian and Polish holidaymakers—filed out with hand luggage in under 90 seconds. Airport fire crews, already on standby for a fuel-tank exercise, had the blaze knocked down within six minutes. No injuries were reported; even the small Shih-Tzu travelling in a cardboard box was given a clean bill of health by a visiting vet who happened to be collecting relatives.

By 15:00 the shell of the coach—operated by family-run fleet “Tat-Tuzz”—was towed past the old Luqa village church, its melted destination sign still flickering “ST JULIAN’S”. Children on half-day summer holidays cheered the firefighters like carnival heroes, waving paper Maltese flags usually reserved for festa season. Someone started humming “Għanja lil Malta”, the patriotic anthem, before a policeman gently reminded the crowd the situation was under control, not a festa… yet.

Transport Malta has opened an inquiry, but early indications point to an electrical fault in the coach’s Euro-6 battery pack, ironically part of a €1.2 million green-upgrade subsidised by EU cohesion funds. The blaze is a symbolic hiccup for Malta’s push to brand itself the “Sustainable Mediterranean Hub” ahead of the 2025 EU Green Capital bid. Environment Minister Miriam Dalli visited the scene, praising Borg’s “textbook emergency response” and promising a full review of electric-hybrid public fleets. “We want visitors to remember our seas, not our smoke,” she quipped, dodging a dripping hose.

For locals, the incident revived memories of the 1995 Cirkewwa ferry queue fire that claimed three coaches and kick-started stricter road-worthiness checks. Older patrons at the airport cafeteria swapped stories over Kinnie, agreeing that Maltese drivers “have petrol in their blood but ice in their nerves”. One German backpacker live-streamed the drama to 30,000 TikTok followers, accidentally tagging #MaltaVolcano and sparking rumours of an eruption. The Malta Tourism Authority moved fast, reposting drone footage of clear blue bays within the hour with the caption: “Still the hottest destination, not literally.”

By evening, Tat-Tuzz had already rolled out a replacement coach emblazoned with a fresh cartoon phoenix, wings spread over the slogan “Niġu lura bħal dejjem”—we always rise again. Passengers from the ill-fated ride were offered complimentary harbour cruises and a year’s supply of traditional honey rings, gestures that travel bloggers were calling “peak Maltese hospitality”. Most accepted; a few asked if the dog could get its own supply.

As flights resumed and the smell of burnt plastic gave way to jet-fuel and evening jasmine, the incident closed with the kind of communal shrug that defines island life: tragedy averted, story secured, pastizzi intact. The real winner may be Karmenu Borg, already nicknamed “Il-Ħares tal-Ajruport” on Facebook, whose employer has promised him a brand-new coach—and, whisper the kitchen staff at the airport cafeteria, maybe even a festa in his honour. In Malta, even a fireball can end with fireworks.