Aviation enthusiasts were left puzzled after a newly-wedded couple celebrated their marriage by taking a romantic flight that looped in heart shapes over the Mediterranean.
Online tracking services showed a plane that had departed from Malta International Airport flying in a heart-shaped flightpath around the island. Much to the confusion of online observers, the plane then did another circuit as it approached the airport, creating a second heart shape over the Mediterranean.
Aviation enthusiasts took to social media to express their confusion at flight KM14JC’s romantic route, with some joking that Malta Airlines had introduced “creative training flights” and others saying the airline was just “showing some love”.
.@AirMalta #LoveFlight #AMC14JC is returning to Malta after drawing two hearts in the sky pic.twitter.com/LZeBfQjud7
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) April 14, 2015
But the mystery was partly solved by Malta Internation’s arrivals board, which listed the flight’s status as “JUST MARRIED”.
An Air Malta spokeswoman confirmed that a newly-married pilot and member of the cabin crew had been celebrating their wedding, which had taken place at the airport earlier in the day.
“He is a pilot and she is a member of the cabin crew. They were joined on the flight by family, friends and colleagues who had been at the wedding,” she told Sky News.
@flightradar24 @AirMalta Here in Malta when we say love is in the air we mean it. ;)
— Nicholas Vella (@VellaNicholas) April 14, 2015
“I think it was a very romantic flight. They flew close to Sicily, so they could see Mount Etna through the window.”
On social media, reaction to the flight – dubbed “Love Flight” by Flightradar24 – was mixed. But while some questioned if it was a PR stunt, and others quipped that the plane “clearly loves dumping fuel”, Twitter user Tracey Gordon tweeted: “That is actually really sweet. Most companies would not do that sort of thing.”
