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.

[2] The Maltese fire service, the CPD occupy the newer building with the glass control tower on the roof.

[3] Its location on Malta was of great strategic importance in the Mediterranean, since it provided a base for aircraft carrier units en route to the rest of the British Empire.

Hal Far airfield provided various facilities, including an armoury, explosives area, workshops, a compass base and a control tower.

During the Second World War, Hal Far airfield was one of the main targets for the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica and suffered several bombings during the blitz.

The influx of large numbers of aircraft needed an expansion of dispersal areas and more huts, an undertaking carried out in October 1944.

Further accommodation areas were added when FAA squadrons started arriving regularly at Hal Far for training periods.

256 Squadron, deployed to Hal Far from Grottaglie and Foggia respectively, two of the Mosquitos escorting the Prime Minister's Avro York transport aircraft outside Malta and into Luqa airfield on 29 January.

The airfield started housing various training camps by the UK-based Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) Air Divisions.

Training including live depth charges dropping, live armament practice and rocket firing on the uninhabited islet of Filfla, and hide and seek exercises with RN submarines in which aircraft sought out and shadowed the underwater 'raiders' and finally carried out mock attacks if they managed to find them.

After being used by the Royal Navy, the Hal Far airfield was returned to the RAF for a short period of time in the mid 1960s, and the last squadron was disbanded on 31 August 1967.