The cruise ship MSC Opera will attempt to fly into Malta today, after being denied entry by sea.
The ship, whose 3,000 passengers and crew have been under self-imposed quarantine due to Covid-19, was scheduled to dock in Malta yesterday evening, but was blocked from doing so after health workers threatened industrial action.
While the 100,000-tonne vessel was initially reported to have been rerouted, it has now deployed wings and taken to the sky. It is currently cruising at 35,000 feet and is once again approaching Maltese territory.
“You blocked us from docking in Malta but you never said anything about landing in Malta,” the ship’s captain, Pietro Esposito, told Bis-Serjetà with a cheeky grin.
“No one stops a cruise ship from going where it wants. If you tell us we can’t fly in either, no problem – we’ll just submerge and drill through the earth’s crust until we come back up in Attard.
“Besides, we have hundreds of people who can’t wait to disembark, not spend anything, and inflate your tourism statistics.”
The government said its hands were tied if MSC Opera wanted to land in Malta.
“We caved into the concerns of doctors and the wider general public yesterday, but – just like the local construction industry – we can’t put public health above big business forever,” Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli said.
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