RAF Hal Far

Royal Air Force Hal Far or more commonly RAF Hal Far is a former Royal Air Force station which was the first permanent airfield to be built on Malta. It was operated by the RAF from 1 April 1929 until 1946 when it was transferred and renamed to HMS Falcon, a Royal Navy stone frigate, and was used by Fleet Air Arm crews. It was transferred back to the RAF on 1 September 1965 and returned to the Maltese Government and redeveloped from January 1979. It is now closed and one of its runways is used by drag racing enthusiasts. The second runway is now a road leading to an industrial estate which was developed recently. The Maltese fire service, the CPD occupy the newer building with the glass control tower on the roof. The old Royal Naval Air Station building is now occupied by the International Safety Training College who utilise part of the runway for firefighting training.