Geologists Propose Moving Malta Airport to Offshore Island, Sparking National Debate

Move Malta’s Airport? Geologists Float an Offshore Island Plan That Could Redraw the Map

Valletta – For a nation whose airport runway ends metres from the sea, the idea of shifting the whole operation to a man-made island sounds like science-fiction. Yet a panel of local and Italian geologists told Parliament’s Environment Committee yesterday that building a runway on a reclaimed platform 4 km off Għallis Point is “technically feasible and geologically safer than extending the present site”. The bombshell proposal, slipped into a routine briefing on coastal erosion, instantly lit up group chats from Marsaxlokk to Mellieħa and left pilots, hoteliers and taxi drivers asking the same question: “Where exactly would we land?”

Malta International Airport currently handles 7.5 million passengers a year on a single 3.5-km strip carved between two valleys in Ħal Luqa. The site, inherited from the RAF in 1946, is boxed in by the Ħal Farruġ cemetery, the Santa Luċija roundabout and the Marsa industrial estate. Every extra metre of tarmac means exhuming graves or relocating factories; every extra decibel over 60 dB triggers a flurry of complaints from residents who insist the roar of Ryanair 737s rattles their Sunday roast. With passenger numbers forecast to hit 12 million by 2040, the geologists argue that “incremental extensions are socially explosive and geotechnically reckless”.

Dr. Rebecca Bonnici, a marine geologist at the University of Malta who co-authored the feasibility note, says an offshore runway built on a doughnut-shaped platform in 15 m of water would bypass the noise problem entirely. “We already dredge three times more material for the Freeport expansion,” she told HOT PRESS after the hearing. “Re-using that spoil to create a 650-hectare island kills two fenkata: we solve the erosion issue and give aviation room to breathe.” The plan envisages a 4.2 km runway, parallel taxiways and a terminal reached by a 15-minute ferry from Ċirkewwa or a sub-sea rail tunnel modelled on Copenhagen’s Øresund link. Early cost estimates hover around €2.4 billion – roughly 60 % of the current national budget – spread across 15 years.

Cultural flashpoints
But an airport is more than concrete and blast fences; it is the country’s unofficial welcome mat. Arrivals at Malta International are greeted by knights-of-St-John mosaics, a vintage MaltaPost box and the smell of pastizzi wafting from the upstairs kiosk. Would an offshore version still feel Maltese? “If we end up with duty-free malls that could be anywhere from Dubai to Dublin, we’ve lost part of our story,” warns architect Edward Scerri, who curated the 2018 terminal refurbishment. Heritage NGOs fear the relocation could also sever the aerial “first view” of the historic three-cities skyline that honeymooners photograph from left-window seats.

Community impact
In Ħal Luqa, the proposal is already reshaping kitchen-table economics. Taxi driver Carmel “Ċensu” Zahra, 63, has ferried arrivals for four decades. “If the planes move to the sea, my house – which I bought because it was close to work – loses value overnight,” he says, sipping tea outside the airport rank. Yet two streets away, 28-year-old teacher Sarah Cassar can’t wait: “We sleep with windows shut in summer because of the noise. If the runway moves, maybe Luqa can finally get a playground without jet-fuel perfume.”

Airport employees are split: 1,200 direct jobs could migrate north, but only if ferry links run 24/7. Pilots, meanwhile, worry about cross-winds over open water. “Malta already gets 40-knot sirocco gusts,” notes one Air Malta captain. “A runway on stilts needs serious arrestor-bed tech.”

Environmentalists warn of collateral damage. BirdLife Malta says a new island would slice through the flight path of 170 species that migrate over the channel between Malta and Comino. “We’d be trading noise pollution for potential bird strikes,” argues spokesperson Nicholas Barbara.

Next steps
Infrastructure Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi reacted cautiously, promising “a full cost-benefit analysis within 18 months” and stressing that “no option is off the table”. Opposition leader Bernard Grech dubbed the plan “an interesting thought experiment” but demanded guarantees that Gozo’s long-promised tunnel would not be sidelined.

For tourists scrolling Ryanair deals in Berlin or Paris, the debate may sound arcane. Yet for Maltese families whose Sunday lunch is timed to avoid the 2 p.m. Emirates arrival, an offshore airport is about more than geology; it is about identity, economy and the soundscape of home. Whether the idea takes off or crashes on the drawing board, one thing is clear: the fight over where Malta meets the world is only just beginning.