Malta has signed the US Agreement Concerning the Deployment of In-Flight Security Officers, establishing a formal procedure for the deployment of security officers on flights between the two countries.
In-flight security officers are better known in the United States as Federal Air Marshals: specially trained government security officers who may travel armed on commercial passenger aircraft to protect passengers and crew against hijackings, terrorism and other serious threats.
The agreement comes only months after direct commercial flights between Malta and the United States finally became a reality. Delta Air Lines launched direct flights between New York JFK and Malta on 7 June this year. Delta operates three weekly flights with a Boeing 767-300ER during the summer schedule.
Malta had already agreed to the principle years before the Delta route was launched. Under Malta’s arrangements with the United States for participation in the Visa Waiver Program, the Maltese government undertook to cooperate with Washington on an air-marshal programme.
The agreement specifically stated that if direct flights were eventually scheduled between Malta and the United States, Malta intended to allow US Federal Air Marshals to operate and carry authorised weapons on board US airline flights travelling to, from or over Malta, subject to an arrangement with the US Transportation Security Administration.
The latest agreement formalises the bilateral framework envisaged under those earlier arrangements now that scheduled direct flights are actually operating.
US law requires the Federal Air Marshal Service to deploy officers according to a risk-based security strategy, with the Transportation Security Administration determining which international flights require coverage. US regulations also tightly restrict information concerning the presence, identity and seating arrangements of marshals on individual flights.
The Us has similar agreements with various European countries including Spain and Poland.
Malta and the United States already have a longstanding aviation-security relationship. Their 2000 Air Transport Agreement commits both governments to cooperate against aircraft hijacking and other threats to civil aviation and to observe international aviation-security standards.
Newsroom
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