RJ70 : Lame duck?

Photo: The RJ70 was launched during a glitzy ceremony held at the KM maintenance hangars. The whole event was broadcast by the national TV station.

Within the short span of nine months, from the signing of the contract with Avro International in January 1994 to first delivery in September, Air Malta introduced a new type in service. Despite the best of attempts from the highest echelons at the Luqa Head Office and its PR people, it did not take long for passengers to come to loathe the Jumbolino, an aircraft that was originally conceived by Hawker Siddeley in 1973. Avro President Charles Masefield revealed that KM had insisted on so many modifications that the RJ70 delivered was practically a new aircraft type.