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2 NEWS 7.4.2022 DRONAMICS, the world's leading middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator, has announced the ex- pansion of its European Operations team. Based in Malta, the team is fo- cused on preparing the ground for DRONAMICS' first commercial flights this year. e European operation opened with Ruth Sawers, Director of Operations. Ruth's background is in specialized re- cruitment in the oil, gas and aviation sectors. She is also the President and Founder of the Women in Aviation Networking Group in Malta and is a passionate advocate of diversity in the workplace. Kenneth Chircop, former CEO of Malta Air Traffic Services (Malta's Air Navigation Service Provider), joins as Director, Global Network Operations Center. Kenneth has authored several peer-reviewed publications in aviation engineering and is also resident aca- demic at the University of Malta's In- stitute of Aerospace Technologies and the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering. Martha Romero is the newly ap- pointed Director of Safety, Quality and Compliance. Martha's experience in commercial aviation, having worked with Monarch Airlines and Norwegian Air in the UK, will be key as DRO- NAMICS sets to expand connectivity across its European network. Julian Scicluna joins as Director of Flight Operations. With over 16,000 hours of flight time, his experience as a pilot includes Air Malta and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines aka Dragonair. After earning a Captain title, Julian also gained valuable experience as a Training Captain on the A330. Finally, Joao Jordao completes the team as Director of Maintenance and Airworthiness. As a former NetJets as well as Emirates Engineering lead, Joao brings a deep understanding of aircraft maintenance processes. e varied and extensive experience that the team brings will boost DRO- NAMICS' position as it prepares for its demonstration, followed by first com- mercial flights from Malta, the compa- ny's European Operations base. e regulatory, operational and fly- ing expertise that our complete team brings puts us in a strong position to fulfill our ambitions for 2022 and be- yond. As our first European operations base, Malta will play a key role in es- tablishing our commercial capabilities across Europe." – said Sergio Oliveira e Silva, Chief Operating Officer of DRO- NAMICS. DRONAMICS grows European operations team ahead of commercial launch FRANK Borda, who took over the reigns of his family business in the 1950s and devel- oped Gala Domestic Appliance, passed away on 2 April, aged 88. His funeral was held on Wednesday. Gala can trace its roots back to 1595, when Guglio Borda established the first foothold of the Borda family in Malta. e family's success story in Malta's business scene eventually took off in 1768, when Guseppe Borda launched a fleet of sailing ships to deliver fresh food and water supplies to other sailing boats roaming across the Northern Maltese waters. When the British Navy later setup a base in Malta, they contracted to Borda family to continue delivering such a service directly to the Royal Navy – a contract which lasted 120 years. A major period of growth for Gala occurred in the 1950's, when Frank Borda took the realms from his father, diversifying into Gala Domestic Appliance. Supplying refrigerators, Gala were at the forefront of Malta's boom in domestic appliances take-up. Moreover, Gala were equally successful in running refrigera- tor exports to Libya and Egypt. e business is now managed by Paul Borda, Frank Borda's son. Paul undertook a large in- vestment, in excess of $40million, to purchase and develop the company's state-of-the-art headquarters in Ta' Xbiex. Today, the premises host Gala's head offices, along with Gala Supermarket Facilities, Gala's Skoda Showroom, and more. APPRECIATION Frank Borda (1934 - 2022) Air Malta inaugurates Madrid route AIR Malta celebrated its return to Madrid for Summer 2022. e flight to the Spanish capital restarted on the 4th April 2022 with up to three times a week operation every Mon- day, Wednesday and Friday. ese services have been announced as part of over 125 return flights per week to 18 key European destina- tions which are being served by Air Malta this summer. "Connectivity is a key precondi- tion for effective bilateral relations between countries - it is for this reason that the re-establishment of the Air Malta flight to Madrid after a 10-year break is a positive devel- opment. It is also a clear sign of Air Malta's confidence in Madrid as a destination to continue to expand its market share at a time when we are gradually exiting the COVID pandemic," said Daniel Azzopardi, Ambassador of Malta to Spain. "In fact, despite the competition on the route, we have encouraging indications of very favourable book- ings on the new route both ways. As an Embassy we intend to build on this momentum by partnering with our Spanish stakeholders, es- pecially the relevant authorities in Madrid, to promote Madrid and Malta as respective destinations for business and leisure." Air Malta's Executive Chairman, David G Curmi said the airline's re- turn to Madrid affirms the compa- ny's strategic commitment to con- nect the Maltese Islands to major cities and major airports and to the affluent European catchments. "We have worked hard on an am- bitious flight schedule that demon- strates our strong belief that travel and tourism will bounce back this summer," he said. "We have effectively doubled our capacity over last Winter and this new scheduled service, is a strong commitment by Air Malta to offer more travel opportunity both for Spaniards and Maltese alike to visit the respective countries and build stronger relationships." Hector Coronel, Director of Tour- ism at Madrid City Council said the city was more than happy to wel- come the first Air Malta flight after 10 years. "We are sure Madrid will exceed the expectations of the Maltese," he said. "Our history, heritage, culture and gastronomy are our main pillars but more than that, our way of life. Welcome to Madrid." Roy Kinnear, Air Malta's Chief Commercial Officer said the air- line started to see signs of recovery across its European markets with some regions responding faster than others. "We are glad to connect Madrid once again to the Mediterranean is- lands of Malta. Over the last months we have worked hard to put in place a stronger sales and distribution strategy, signing agreements with key sales representatives in various markets including Spain and re- vamping our website and booking engine," he said. "I am optimistic that these changes, together with strong de- mand for travel next year, will sup- port us to have a great 2022." Air Malta's aircraft arrival in Madrid

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