Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1105612
17 EVENTS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 17 APRIL 2019 MAPFRE MSV Life is supporting the Notarial Archives Foundation through the sponsorship of conservation works on a number of documents of historical significance that are held at the Notarial Archives. The sponsorship was presented by Michael Galea, Chief Business De- velopment Officer of MAPFRE MSV Life to Joan Abela, Consultant Histo- rian on the EU-funded Rehabilitation Project, during a visit to the Notarial Archives in St Christopher Street, Valletta. Also present were Chief Notary to Government Keith German and Head Conservator Theresa Zammit Lupi. The documents that will be treated and preserved with the support of MAPFRE MSV Life are two manu- scripts dating to the sixteenth century. These are attributed to notary Gior- gio Zelivo and both are bound with a much earlier dated recycled parch- ment cover containing Medieval Greek Byzantine text. Such recycled manuscript covers are very rare to come across. One of them features part of a ser- mon by Ephrem the Syrian whilst the other features part of a homily of Saint John Chrysostom, both dating back to the twelfth century. A third manuscript that will be treat- ed and conserved is a 'bastardello' register from the records of the eight- eenth century notary Paolo Camilleri. Due to the short supply of paper and parchment, this volume has made use of playing cards as sewing supports, a feature that is a very unusual in early modern bookbinding. Speaking during the sponsorship presentation, Galea said, "We are de- lighted to support the Notarial Ar- chives Foundation in its endeavours to preserve the historical documents at the Notarial Archives. These are docu- ments which provide a unique insight into the lifestyle of Maltese society over many centuries and constitute an important part of our heritage". Joan Abela thanked MAPFRE MSV Life for their support and said that it was hoped that more private individu- als and institutions follow in the foot- steps of MAPFRE MSV Life and take part in the 'Adopt a Notary' scheme which seeks to ensure that our na- tion's paper heritage is preserved us- ing the highest international conser- vation standards. The conservation treatment of the documents will require surface clean- ing, paper repairs, ink consolidation, flattening and cover repair amongst other interventions. Protective enclosures will be cre- ated to house the volumes safely and securely. MAPFRE MSV Life supports preservation of historic documents at the Notarial Archives Recycled manuscript cover attributed to Notary Giorgio Zelivo, covered in parchment containing Byzantine text from Ephrem the Syrian, dated to the twelfth century EMIRATES is committed to of- fering its customers an unpar- alleled onboard experience and maintaining the highest stand- ards of safety and efficiency with a modern all wide-body aircraft fleet. Reconfiguration of Boeing 777-200LR fleet In April 2019, the airline completed the reconfigura- tion of its last Boeing 777- 200LR aircraft. Emirates invested USD $150 million in converting the 10 Boeing 777-200LR aircraft in its fleet from three to two class cabins featuring wider Business class seats in a 2-2-2 format and a fully refreshed economy class cabin. The reconfiguration of the 10 aircraft was executed fully in-house at Emirates Engi- neering's state of the art facil- ities in Dubai. The Engineer- ing team spent a total of over 160,000 man hours on the project, working with more than 30 suppliers and han- dling over 2,700 spare parts at any one time. On an average it took about 35 days for the team to completely strip and reconfigure a single aircraft. The first Boeing 777-200LR with the new configuration was rolled out for commercial service in March 2018 and over the course of the next 12 months, Emirates completed the conversion of the remain- ing nine aircraft in the fleet. The project was completed almost three months ahead of schedule. Customers can experience Emirates' refreshed Boeing 777-200LR from a number of destinations across its global network including Fort Lau- derdale, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Adelaide. Retiring the last two Boeing 777-300 classic aircraft In line with its ambitious fleet renewal programme, Emirates is also in the process of retiring the last two Boeing 777-300 classic aircraft in its fleet. A6-EMV, delivered in February 2003, has now been phased out of the Emirates fleet and A6-EMX, delivered in June 2003 will shortly also be removed from commercial service. With the retirement of the Boeing 777-300 classic air- craft, Emirates' Boeing fleet will be composed of the Boe- ing 777-300ER and the newly refreshed Boeing 777-200LR fleet. Emirates' fleet renewal pro- gramme for 2019 includes retiring a total of seven older Boeing 777 aircraft and tak- ing delivery of six new Air- bus A380. Emirates operates one of the youngest widebody aircraft fleets in the global aviation industry enabling the airline's customers to enjoy a superior experience during their flight. A younger aircraft fleet also allows for better fuel efficien- cy and other related environ- mental benefits Emirates marks significant fleet renewal milestones