BA cuts Malta-Gatwick fare to Lm90 - all year round

British Airways franchise carrier GB Airways has cut the economy class return fare from Malta to London Gatwick to Lm90 (excluding taxes and charges). The new fare will apply all year round and will no longer have advance purchase or Saturday night restrictions.

This cut will represent a considerable savings on summer fares, especially.

GB Airways will continue to operate a daily scheduled service to Gatwick this winter. It has operated eight flights a week this summer, and plans to increase this to nine flights next summer.

This was announced by Nick Sharps, GB Airways' head of UK & International Sales, last Wednesday.

Mr Sharps said that GB Airways, which started to operate the Malta-London route in April 1996 after British Airways had stopped operating it in 1989, said that travellers from Malta could proceed to 13 other UK destinations taking connecting BA flights from Gatwick.

Mr Sharps described his airline's Malta operation as very successful, "with load factors in the high 80s."

Services will operate on a combination of Boeing 737-300s (which are being phased out gradually) and a new fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, which offer greater passenger comfort with a wider cabin, leather seats throughout and a minimum seat pitch of 31 inches.

James Stagno-Navarra, British Airways' manager in Malta, said that the introduction of the lower fares "means that we can offer the public cheaper prices while still maintaining the full-frills services BA has become renowned for. In addition, we are making travelling ever easier with e-ticket, a system which stores passengers' booking details electronically, removing the need for paper tickets. This service, introduced in June, has already proved very popular."

For reservations, visit the BA Website at www.ba.com, or phone 2166-7376.

GB Airways, the successor of Gibraltar Airways, which started operating in 1931, became a British Airways franchise carrier in February 1995. It flies to 25 destinations in seven countries, including Malta. It will start a new service to Almeria in Spain in November.