Back to Malta

Flying to Malta

We left our Nicosia hotel around 0815 by rideshare-ordered taxi for the Kapnos shuttle on the edge of the city where we would change to a shuttle to Larnaca’s airport at 0900.  I had booked the shuttle online, which was just as well as there was only one spare seat.

Getting to the airport around 0940, there was no queue for our Emirates 1220 flight to Malta.  I’m confirmed on a commercial ticket left over from nearly 3 years ago during the pandemic but Kim’s on standby.

For me, today’s leg from Larnaca to Malta brought down my Auckland to Larnaca ticket price by about NZD200 nearly three years ago! This is the reason people do “skiplagging”. In my case, the same aircraft was going to two destinations but it is NZD200 more to get off at the first stop than the second!

As far as the airline is concerned, I’ve had a layover of nearly 3 years in Larnaca. It was originally for a few months but the Emirates had great flexibility rules which meant I could postpone it repeatedly.

Emirates’ public app is awesome as it shows to standby (staff) passengers, full details of the flight’s loads and where one stands in the priority.  Full transparency!  All this is available 48h prior to departure when online check-in opens.

With the knowledge that the flight was only half-full, we slept well last night and walked up to the check-in queue with confidence to get our boarding passes.

There was a short queue for immigration.  EU passport holders were able to use a kiosk but there were no turnstiles incorporated into the kiosks which instead generated a slip to be presented to an officer.  Us foreigners had an easier one-step process instead!

We spent over an hour at the lounge before boarding our Emirates flight to Malta.  Surprisingly, only a cold meal was served on this flight with no choices.  While normal in Europe and the Americas, it is a bit unusual for them and most Asian full-service airlines.

The seat came with a personal TV screen that was nearly the width of the seat.  And they had more Malay programmes than I’ve seen on Malaysia Airlines!

Interestingly, on this aircraft, there was a security camera in each aisle of each cabin zeon. In the past, it’s normally just seen near the cockpit door.

Landing in Malta a little early at 1350, immigration and baggage was swift.  Apart from confusion with the rideshare pickup point, it was all too smooth and we were in the car about 30 mins after landing.  We got into Valletta Kursura Port View apartment in old town Valletta 15 mins after it’s official check-in time at 1445.

Evening walk

We were last in Malta about six years ago, so didn’t have any pressure to go out and sightsee in the afternoon heat.
We stayed indoors till after 1700 when we wandered to the supermarket then along the lower coastal road towards the area below Upper Barakka Gardens.  It’s very impressive to look up at the fortifications from the 1500s.

An elevator is available to take us up to the Upper Barakka Gardens.  At that point, it is apparent that the city is built on a lump of rock.  We paid the EUR1 per person to take the lift up to enjoy the panorama of Valletta’s Grand Harbour.

Here, we could feel that the breeze wasn’t like a fan-bake oven like back in Cyprus. It was only about 30 degC as opposed to around 40 degC back in Cyprus.

From the Upper Barakka Gardens, we zig-zagged our way through the old city and took a light dinner at a pricey food-court where the prices rivalled some restaurants.   Our choice was a sandwich made from a local bread called ftira.  It felt like the perfect kind of bread for me.  Having eaten too much recently, we shared just one sandwich and had small snacks and fruit after back at the apartment.