To Air Malta:

We have always had problems getting seats on these flights so, five months ago, we started shopping around for flights in August. Every agent I called gave us the same answer - "the flights are fully booked" or "the agents have not released the seats".

When we enquired which agent was holding the seats, no one could give us an answer. In desperation I called the Air Malta sales manager. I told him that I was having problems making bookings to and from Birmingham and that it was ridiculous not being able to book seats four months in advance.

I couldn't get the names of agents holding Air Malta tickets. However the manager did promise to put us on 'priority standby' and told us that we would have to liaise with our travel agent. I tried to book seats on KM 172 to Birmingham on August 16 and to return on KM 173 on September 6...

On boarding the flight to Birmingham we were shocked to find the aircraft full of British tourists; not only that - the aircraft was set up as a charter aircraft - no first class and seats crammed together. This is supposed to be a scheduled flight. That's what we pay for.

Speaking with some of the passengers we learned that they had all booked flights from UK to Malta and back with travel agents in the UK. If this is the case Air Malta, the national airline, is offering seats to British tour operators before offering them to the Maltese public. No wonder it is difficult to get seats to Birmingham - we, in Malta, get the left-overs, the scraps. Again we are treated as second-class citizens. It is a sad situation.

We cannot get seats on UK charter flights by law. However, we pay schedule air fares and end up on an Air Malta charter flight. This cannot be right but, as a previous correspondent wrote, "two wrongs do make a right in Malta". (Vincent Buttery)

Mr Buttery copied me in and I asked for Air Malta's comments. Air Malta replied directly to Mr Buttery and copied me in:

We acknowledge receipt of your letter regarding Air Malta's flights to and from Birmingham. At the outset, kindly accept our profuse apologies for the delay taken in reverting to you due to technical difficulties. Please note that we have looked into your comments and we would like to inform you as follows.

Kindly note that Air Malta operates various 'mainstream' flights such as London, Paris, Rome, Frankfurt, etc. The demand for these flights is present from Malta as well as from the destination flown to. Air Malta also operates to several other destinations. Unfortunately, the demand from Malta for these services is limited, due to the size of the Maltese outgoing market.

For Air Malta to operate such routes, we have to rely heavily on the demand from overseas as, alternatively, these routes would not be sustainable. In this respect, Air Malta has no choice but to pre-contract a large number of its seats on these routes to tour operators, most of them with a commitment made in advance, for every flight, for the whole season in question. This is the only way certain non-mainstream routes can continue to operate on a regular basis.

Seats allocated to the local market however, are still made available on all flights, albeit not proportionate to the number allocated to overseas tour operators.

In light of the above, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and trouble caused to you. While I apologise once again for the delay taken in reverting to you, we sincerely hope that we will have the opportunity of being of service to you again in the future under more favourable circumstances. (Alan Castillo, manager, customer care & PR)

At this point I felt it appropriate to ask for Mr Buttery's comments about Air Malta's reply. Subsequently I received the following letter:

Two months ago I wrote to you requesting you to investigate Air Malta's practice of selling tickets to British tour operators before offering them to the Maltese public on the Malta-Birmingham-Malta route.

I take it nothing has been done about it. Nothing has been published in The Sunday Times. I take it things have been swept under the carpet because you are called upon to deal with the national airline. It's disgusting. (Vincent Buttery)

Sweeping things under the carpet is most definitely not my style. Due to the size of our mailbag, the numerous cases and issues we have to cover in this column, and the fact that I only have one 'Saturday' assistant, over the years, we established specific terms and conditions which are clearly explained and published in every column.

Although I have investigated and I continue investigating many cases/issues I have to draw a line somewhere. I am only human, and I need your help. However we have resolved hundreds of cases wherein, unlike Mr Buttery, readers actually read and abide by the column's terms and conditions. Other consumers who would like to pursue this case can write to Air Malta and copy me in.