Story ID: 
Malta Aviation Conference Kicks Off in Person
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Opening on Tuesday, the three-day Malta Aviation Conference is themed "Rebooting the Industry" and gathering local leaders and industry professionals.
Word Count: 340
With the theme of Rebooting the Industry, the third edition of the Malta Aviation Conference and Expo (MACE) kicked off on Tuesday, assembling industry professionals for three days of panel discussions, keynote speakers, and networking events.

“We are truly delighted that we are yet again able to host our conference physically after having to do it completely online in 2020,” said MACE founding partners Stanley Bugeja, Jonathan Dalli, and Joshua Zammit. “Following the hand dealt to the aviation industry by the pandemic, we managed to bring together the industry to discuss and collaborate on ways by which together we can take the industry back to pre-pandemic heights.”

More than 35 local and international speakers are participating in the conference, including Ian Borg, who is the minister for transport, infrastructure, and capital projects for Malta; Charles Pace, director general of civil aviation for Transport Malta; Anita Sengupta, a former NASA scientist; and UK-based travel vlogger and reviewer Noel Philips, among others.

Borg underscored the importance of MACE as Malta’s largest aviation conference, saying it is a platform to attract keynote speakers and potential investments in the growth of the industry.

“Malta’s aviation register, 9H, is one of the fastest-growing ones in Europe, showing that the most influential aviation leaders are looking at Malta to continue expanding their services,” he said. “Presently at around 600 aircraft registered, we are committed to continuing building on this growth, and conferences like MACE are an excellent opportunity to foster healthy dialogue, collaboration, and the sharing of best practices to expand our horizons. Most importantly MACE will provide the right platform to deliberate on the way forward, especially after a crucial time brought about by the Covid pandemic.”

He added the government is committed to supporting the effort to get aviation back on its feet.

In addition to the agenda, MACE organizers are making the event carbon neutral, offsetting 100 percent of anticipated related carbon emissions through a conference supporting partner Carbon TradeXchange (CTX).