Hiding in plane sight: the unrecognised impact of aviation on the Maltese landscape

In many ways, the impact aviation has had upon Malta is obvious; one only has to see how its airport dominates Malta’s landscape, the importance of tourism to its economy (an industry almost wholly reliant upon civil aviation) or even walk into its capital to be confronted by the bombed remains of the Royal Opera House to evidence this. In this paper, in addition to briefly outlining some of the ways aviation has directly impacted upon the archaeology of Malta, its other more subtle, hidden and unacknowledged impacts will also be examined. In doing so, new information and insights are revealed to uncover the true depth of Malta’s aviation archaeological heritage, and how it continues to influence and shape Malta to this day.