Maltese pilot training company TRTO Agency has received an air operator's certificate from Transport Malta. The company manages a Citation XLS, a CJ and an Airbus A320. It is also acquiring a Piper Meridian PA46-500TP. Says HR manager Charlotte Grech: “Our main scope is the charter and ACMI of the Airbus, but we also manage the business jets. All the elements of our business are important to us but owing to the fact that the Airbus can carry so many more passengers, we do focus on that. Although we are based in Malta we operate all over Europe and are approved to operate in the Middle East and Africa. We are also applying to operate in Asia.”

She says that the Maltese registry, Transport Malta, has a very welcoming environment: “You can be very open with the team there. We are comfortable discussing our problems and ways that we can solve them. We have had a lot of support.

“For now the operation is quite small and we are very aware of our limitations. To us the most important thing is to get aircraft on our AOC, because we want to build a very good base of operation, to build processes and build on what we have.”