Air fares

I refer to the letter by John Bencini entitled Cost Per Mile (September 29).

Mr Bencini travelled with Air Malta on the last day of the peak season. On September 20, the day after he attended the conference, fares on the Malta-Brussels route dropped by Lm30.

Airline seat prices may vary for a number reasons ranging from levels of service, airports the airline operates to/from, demand, seasonality and conditions of ticket. Moreover, a standard airline practice is that every flight is split into a number of fare classes. The cheapest fares available are usually the first to be sold.

Prices may also differ as a result of a number of taxes imposed by and paid to the airport or government authorities. Air Malta has no control over these. In Malta passengers travelling to Belgium pay Lm25.32 in taxes as per the following breakdown: Lm6.52 - Malta airport service charge, Lm0.90 - Malta airport security charge, Lm10 - Malta government tax, and Lm8.90 - Belgian tax. Similar taxes vary according to the airport a passenger is travelling to/from.

All these factors must be taken into consideration when comparing airline seat ticket prices.

Air Malta is a customer-driven organisation and is sensitive to market demands. Aware of increasing requests for lower prices as from November 1, Air Malta will introduce FlexiFly, a new pricing structure. FlexiFly will see Air Malta flight prices drastically reduced throughout all its 45 destinations.

Prices for a one-way ticket to Brussels will start from only Lm36 (€90). The lowest one-way fare from Malta will be Lm17 to Catania, Palermo and Tunis. Flight prices to London Heathrow and Gatwick will start from Lm35 while prices from most of Air Malta's other European routes will start from Lm32. All these fares are exclusive of airport taxes, fees and other charges. Added value to the client is that these fares will have a maximum validity of 12 months with no minimum stay restrictions.

FlexiFly is a radical departure from the traditional concept of pricing and will be offered on the airline's entire route network. Through this product Air Malta is challenging the stereotypical idea that Air Malta flight prices are expensive. More information on this product is available at www.airmalta.com/flexifly .