Malta has a rich aviation heritage, dating back to the pioneering days. Malta's strategic location made it an ideal staging post for aircraft, especially in the days when inflight refuelling was only an interesting concept and aircraft range was limited. Although nowadays aviation technology has advanced to such a point that staging posts have been almost rendered obsolete, the emergence of the Maltese Islands as a centre of excellence in aviation, with excellent airfield facilities, maintenance operations and competitive pricing, Malta's airfield remains a regular point of call for a number of interesting aircraft.