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Ninety seconds on Malta Aviation Museum
By public bus 56 from Valletta to the Stadium stop at Ta' Qali, which runs about every 60 minutes as of November 2026. Route 186 comes from Bugibba and route 202 from Sliema to the same stop. The Blue Line and North Tour sightseeing routes also serve Ta' Qali, every 30 minutes.
As of November 2026, the museum opens Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 17:00, and on Sunday from 09:00 to noon. Last entry is at 16:00.
Yes, for aviation and Second World War history. The museum also makes an alternative morning away from the beaches and the busiest sights, showing the island's history from a different angle.
Walk into hangars on the old RAF airfield at Ta' Qali and stand beside a Spitfire and a Hurricane of the kind that defended Malta in the Second World War.
The museum is not in Mdina itself but at Ta' Qali, on the plain just below the hilltop city. Its three exhibition hangars on the former RAF airfield there hold aircraft, helicopters, airfield ground equipment and memorabilia from Malta's flying history.
The main hangar traces the origins of the Maltese Armed Forces and its Air Wing. Jet fighters, classic airliners, helicopters and aero engines fill the floor, with a 1920s flight simulator, ground vehicles and uniforms among the smaller exhibits.
Next door, the Air Battle of Malta Memorial Hangar holds the wartime planes: a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX, a Hawker Hurricane Mk IIa and an airworthy de Havilland Tiger Moth. A Fairey Swordfish in the same hangar is awaiting restoration.
The Spitfire, EN199, was the first aircraft the museum's volunteers restored, in 1993. Each machine is returned to flying, taxiing or static display condition.
Royal Navy aircraft are parked in reception, which also looks into the workshop and its ongoing restoration project. The gift shop is in reception too, so leave souvenirs for the way out.
From there the route runs into the main hangar, then next door to the memorial hangar and its Second World War aircraft.
After the hangars, sit for a while in the shaded grove of the Henriette Chevalier Memorial Garden. The grounds also hold a cafeteria in a Nissen hut and a small chapel to the aircrew who fell defending Malta.
The Ta' Qali Crafts Village, with its glass and ceramics factories, is a few minutes' walk from the museum, so the two fit into one stop on the same bus.
For more Second World War history on the same day, pair the museum with the Rotunda of Mosta and its wartime shelters.
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