Safi, MT 🇲🇹 Closed Airport
MT-0002
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- ft
MT-25
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 35.839985° N, 14.494478° E
Continent: EU
Type: Closed Airport
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While major flight operations ceased shortly after World War II, the airfield was officially and permanently decommissioned as a military installation with the final withdrawal of British forces from Malta on March 31, 1979. It had fallen into disuse as an active runway long before this date.
The primary reason for closure was military redundancy and strategic consolidation. RAF Safi was built as a wartime dispersal airfield. With the end of World War II, the constant threat of air raids on Malta vanished, eliminating the need for satellite airfields. All remaining air operations were consolidated at the larger, better-equipped main base, RAF Luqa (which later became Malta International Airport), making RAF Safi obsolete.
The site of the former RAF Safi has been completely redeveloped and is no longer recognizable as an airfield. The area is now the Safi Aviation Park, a key industrial hub for Malta's thriving aviation services sector. The footprint of the old runway and taxiways is occupied by large, modern hangars and facilities for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) companies, including industry giants like Lufthansa Technik and SR Technics. Other parts of the former airfield are used for light industry, commercial estates, and government facilities, such as the Safi Barracks of the Armed Forces of Malta.
RAF Safi holds significant historical importance, primarily from its role during World War II. Constructed in 1942 during the height of the Siege of Malta, it served as a critical satellite airfield for RAF Luqa. Its main purpose was to disperse fighter aircraft, particularly Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes, to protect them from being destroyed on the ground during intense Axis bombing raids. This dispersal tactic was vital for maintaining Malta's air defense capabilities, which earned the island the reputation of an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier'. The airfield ensured that the RAF could continue to launch sorties to defend the island and attack Axis supply convoys. After the siege was lifted, it was also used for aircraft maintenance, assembly, and by transport squadrons.
There are zero plans or prospects for reopening RAF Safi as an airport. The land has been permanently and successfully repurposed for high-value industrial and commercial use. Its function as an airfield is now served by the adjacent Malta International Airport, and its current role as the Safi Aviation Park is critical to the Maltese economy.