Air Malta fares

Hardly a week goes by without a letter in these columns on the subject of air fares. Mark Lavelle (December 7) even thinks that Air Malta's fares from Manchester in March are a joke.

Mr Lavelle did not specify the travel dates. But a 15-minute internet fare check of all Monday, Thursday and Sunday departures in March revealed that Air Malta is actually the least expensive of the scheduled flight options from Manchester to Malta, with return fares (based on one week stays) starting from £158, taxes included! Astraeus, with a once weekly direct night flight, and British Airways, with a transit stop - sometimes as long as eight hours at night - and plane change in London in both directions, both checked out more expensive.

Moreover, Air Malta's daily flights are non-stop and with very convenient timings.

Why, then, did Mr Lavelle single out Air Malta in his letter? Many Maltese moan that the British pay much cheaper fares to Malta than we pay to go to England. So it is very surprising that Mr Lavelle has not been able to find these cheap fares. Could it be that Air Malta, being the cheaper option, is not cheap enough (pardon the pun) for Mr Lavelle? In that case the joke is on him.

One thing seems to be overlooked when one complains about the major airlines' relatively expensive fares - the majors are not low cost airlines. Yet, they still offer low cost fares, but with more discretion. Even the low cost airlines are not low cost all the time. Only if one is flexible can money be saved.