Malta airporttoValletta city center

From

The "Airport 1" stop at the bus terminal outside arrivals, signposted from the Welcomers' Hall; the 24-hour card machine is by the stop

To

Bay B1 of the Valletta bus terminus outside City Gate, by the Triton Fountain, in 11 to 17 minutes; then Lascaris Wharf for the Gozo fast ferry and the Barrakka lift, and Bombi in Floriana on the way back out

Luggage

Built for it: the operator says "ample luggage space", USB sockets and Wi-Fi on the Airport Direct fleet.

Runs

05:20–00:50

Journey

11–17 min

EUR 3.00, cash or contactless, exact change if paying cash. A resident's tallinja card, free on ordinary routes, pays EUR 1.50 here. The shareable twelve-journey card costs two journeys per ride (EUR 3.17, more than cash). The Explore Flex cards (EUR 21 for 4 days, EUR 27 for 7) include Airport Direct. Children under 4 free. The ticket covers two hours; the fine for none is EUR 50.

This is the bus that replaced the X4 on 20 April 2025. A guide that sends you to the X4 is sending you to a route whose page now says "Timetable not available!".

A personalised tallinja card, free on the rest of the network, pays EUR 1.50 here; the twelve-journey card costs two journeys (EUR 3.17). Otherwise pay cash or tap a bank card, unless you have a 4- or 7-day Explore Flex.

Every 30 minutes, not "frequent": land at 10:22 and the next bus is 10:50. The 88 from the Airport 2 stop leaves every 20 minutes on weekdays if the timing is better, for 50 cents less and half an hour more.

Last bus 00:50, first 05:20, every night. Between them nothing public leaves the airport; the taxi ticket is EUR 17.

It is a loop: Airport, Valletta terminus, Lascaris, Floriana, Airport. Get off at the terminus for the city; stay on one stop for the Gozo fast ferry at Lascaris Wharf.

The operator's Welcomers' Hall office is open to midnight by its own page and to 19:30 by the airport's; the machines are 24 hours, and the driver sells the ticket anyway.

From Airport 1: every 30 minutes, 05:20–00:50, every day. Valletta bay B1 is 11–16 minutes later on weekdays, 12–17 at weekends; Lascaris two minutes after that. The last bus reaches the terminus at 01:02 (01:05 at weekends).

Airport Direct TD4 to Valletta: what it costs for one to eight travelers →

From

The "Airport 2" stop at the bus terminal outside arrivals, with a 24-hour tallinja card machine beside it

To

The Valletta bus terminus outside City Gate, in 30 to 51 minutes, after Gudja, Ħal Għaxaq, Żejtun, Tarxien, Paola, Marsa and Floriana (Bombi, Sarrija, Mall, Publiju)

Luggage

An ordinary city bus: the operator welcomes "small luggage items" that do not block the aisle and says drivers "may limit or refuse" large or bulky ones.

Runs

05:30–22:50

Journey

30–51 min

EUR 2.50 in summer, EUR 2.00 from about mid-October (exact date not yet published), bought from the driver, valid two hours with free changes. Free with a resident's tallinja card. The shareable twelve-journey card (EUR 19) is debited one journey a head (EUR 1.58), cheaper than eight cash fares, sold at the airport office and 24-hour machines. Children under 4 free.

Fifty cents cheaper than the TD4 and about half an hour slower: 30 to 51 minutes through nine localities and nearly forty stops against 11 to 17 direct.

The fare changes with the calendar: EUR 2.50 now, EUR 2.00 in winter. The TD4 is EUR 3 all year.

Last bus 22:50 on weekdays and 22:30 at weekends, first 05:30. After it, the TD4 until 00:50; after that, the taxi.

Eight of you: one EUR 19 twelve-journey card, tapped eight times, beats eight EUR 2.50 tickets and leaves four journeys for the week. It is sold at the office and the machines, not by the driver.

Cash on board is exact change only, by the operator's conditions; a contactless bank card avoids the problem.

This is one of the four routes the operator named as the X4's replacement; the airport's own bus page does not list it, but its timetable starts at the airport.

From Airport 2: Monday to Friday, every 20 minutes, 05:30–22:50, 35–51 minutes to the Valletta terminus. Saturday and Sunday, every 30 minutes, 05:30–22:30, 30–44 minutes. Nothing after 22:50 — take the TD4 instead, which runs to 00:50.

Route 88 via Paola: what it costs for one to eight travelers →

From

The taxi booth at arrivals — buy the ticket there, then the rank outside; the airport names Malta Taxi as its official service

To

Any address in Valletta, Floriana or at the Cruise Terminal at EUR 17; other localities at the table's price for them

Luggage

Included: the tariff has no luggage supplement, and regulation 47 obliges the driver to see that "the luggage is stored securely in the luggage booth".

Runs

All night

Journey

12–20 min

A pre-paid, fixed fare: buy the ticket at the airport booth and hand it to the driver. EUR 17 to Valletta, Floriana or the Cruise Terminal; EUR 19 Msida; EUR 20 Sliema, Gżira, Paceville, Swieqi, Ta' Xbiex; EUR 21 St Julian's and Pembroke; EUR 22 Rabat and Mdina; EUR 28 Buġibba and Qawra; EUR 33 Melliħa; EUR 37 Čirkewwa. For more than five passengers the fare rises 50% (a taxi seats up to eight); no night, Sunday or luggage surcharge, though EUR 4.50 extra applies on 25 December and 1 January. Without a booth the meter runs instead: EUR 3.50 to start, then EUR 2.50 for the first kilometer, EUR 1.60 to five, EUR 1.40 to ten, EUR 1.30 beyond; EUR 25 an hour waiting, EUR 4.20 an hour in traffic.

It loses to the bus at every party size, by EUR 1.50 at eight. EUR 17 seats five; the sixth passenger lifts it to EUR 25.50, and eight TD4 tickets are EUR 24. Its case is the night, the bags and the door.

Buy the ticket at the booth, not from the driver. The regulation requires the pre-paid ticket where a booth operates and forbids the driver to take the hire without it; the fiscal receipt half is yours to keep.

EUR 17 is the legal maximum for the ticket to Valletta. If the booth quotes less, pay less; if a driver asks for more than the ticket, the regulation is on your side.

More than five passengers costs half as much again, EUR 25.50, and Transport Malta says the rule "applies only to taxi vehicles which may legally carry more than 6 people"; ask the booth for one. Two ordinary cars are EUR 34.

The fare is by locality, not by zone: Floriana and the Cruise Terminal are EUR 17 like Valletta, but Sliema is EUR 20, St Julian's EUR 21 and Msida EUR 19. Say the town, not "the center".

No authority publishes a taxi journey time. The 15 minutes here is the TD4's timetabled 11 to 17 over the same road; allow more at the morning peak.

Between 00:50 and 05:20 it is the only thing that leaves, at the same EUR 17: the table has no night rate.

Taxi, pre-paid booth ticket: what it costs for one to eight travelers →

From

The "Airport 1A" stop at the bus terminal outside arrivals

To

San Ġiljan in 18 to 28 minutes, then Pembroke Park & Ride, Paceville (Ganado, Paceville and Dragonara stops) and Spinola Bay, before it loops back to the airport

Luggage

An Airport Direct bus: "ample luggage space", by the operator.

Runs

05:00–00:30

Journey

18–43 min

EUR 3.00 a head on board, cash or contactless, all year; EUR 1.50 with a personalised tallinja card; two journeys on the EUR 19 twelve-journey card; included in the Explore Flex 4- and 7-day cards.

A circular route: it serves St Julian's first and Spinola last, so the stop you want decides the time — 18 to 28 minutes to San Ġiljan, up to 43 to Spinola.

Last bus 00:30 from the airport, first 05:00. The TD3 covers St Julian's a quarter of an hour later, to 00:45.

The taxi table is EUR 21 to St Julian's and EUR 20 to Paceville for up to five.

From Airport 1A: every 30 minutes, 05:00–00:30, every day. San Ġiljan 18–28 minutes later, Pembroke Park & Ride 25–34, Paceville 28–38, Spinola 27–43.

Airport Direct TD2 to St Julian's and Paceville: what it costs for one to eight travelers →

From

The "Airport 1A" stop at the bus terminal outside arrivals

To

St Julian's (San Ġiljan, Spinola, Balluta) in 28 to 32 minutes, then the Sliema seafront to the Ferries in 40 to 43, and on through Gżira and Msida

Luggage

An Airport Direct bus: "ample luggage space", by the operator.

Runs

05:15–00:45

Journey

28–43 min

EUR 3.00 a head on board, cash or contactless, all year; EUR 1.50 with a personalised tallinja card; two journeys on the EUR 19 twelve-journey card; included in the Explore Flex 4- and 7-day cards.

Sliema is the far end: 40 to 43 minutes to the Ferries, after St Julian's. For Valletta it is the wrong bus — the TD4 does it in 11 to 17.

Last bus 00:45 from the airport, first 05:15, every day.

The taxi table is EUR 20 to Sliema and EUR 21 to St Julian's for up to five.

From Airport 1A: every 30 minutes, 05:15–00:45, every day. San Ġiljan 28–30 minutes later, Spinola 30–32, Balluta 32–34, Sliema Torri 35–37, the Ferries 40–43.

Airport Direct TD3 to St Julian's and Sliema: what it costs for one to eight travelers →

From

The "Airport 1" stop at the bus terminal outside arrivals — the TD4's stop

To

Buġibba Bay in 39 to 53 minutes, via Rabat and St Paul's Bay; then Qawra, Xemxija, Mellieħa and the Ċirkewwa ferry terminal at 64 to 90

Luggage

An Airport Direct bus: "ample luggage space", by the operator.

Runs

05:00–00:00

Journey

39–53 min

EUR 3.50, cash or contactless — the only Airport Direct route above EUR 3. EUR 1.50 with a personalised tallinja card. Six people on one shareable twelve-journey card pay EUR 19 against EUR 21 in cash. Included in the Explore Flex 4- and 7-day cards.

Hourly, on the hour; miss it and the wait is an hour. TD5 fills the same corridor to Buġibba six times a day, 08:20 to 13:20, for EUR 3.

EUR 3.50, not EUR 3: the twelve-journey card at two journeys a ride is cheaper here, EUR 3.17.

Ċirkewwa can take an hour and a half; the Gozo fast ferry from Lascaris Wharf in Valletta is the TD4's second stop.

The taxi table is EUR 28 to Buġibba, EUR 29 to St Paul's Bay and EUR 37 to Ċirkewwa for up to five.

From Airport 1: on the hour, 05:00–00:00, every day. Rabat 19–26 minutes later, St Paul's Bay 31–49, Buġibba Bay 39–53, Melliħa 52–67, Čirkewwa 64–90.

Airport Direct TD1 to Buġibba and Ċirkewwa: what it costs for one to eight travelers →