Extend the runway in Gozo

Following the suspension of the helicopter service between Malta and Gozo, it has become significantly more difficult, and at times impossible, to travel between the two islands. In this day and age, in a country which strives to project itself as a developed country, this is unacceptable.

An air service between the two islands is a necessity. Gozitans need it for those times when they want to catch a flight from Malta International Airport to travel abroad. Sometimes other compelling reasons - medical, business or just to go home when the sea is too rough for the ferry - make them consider it worthwhile to pay the fare for air transport.

The Gozitan economy is even more heavily dependent on tourism than that of Malta. Several tourists used to catch the helicopter to Gozo immediately upon their arrival at Gudja airport, thus bypassing all the hassle of taxis, shuttles, ferries, luggage and whatnot. Without such a direct service many of these tourists will now take their business elsewhere, and I do not mean Malta. Let us not forget that the ferry operates at night for only three months of the year.

Several companies both local and foreign have shown an interest in operating such an air service. Naturally this is planned on a commercial basis. Now helicopters are much more expensive to operate than fixed-wing aircraft of the same size, to the order of three times as much. A service operated by fixed-wing aircraft would be much more commercially viable, and can be offered to the travelling public at much more reasonable prices than an equivalent service by helicopter.

The Gozo heliport has a runway which is 230 m long. Short take-off and landing aircraft are aeroplanes which by definition need no more than 500 m of runway to take off and land. Several aircraft capable of carrying up to 20 passengers are able to use a 500 m runway. A bit more length would allow for the higher temperatures, and hence performance penalties, that exist in our climate, especially in summer.

All that is needed is to little more than double the length of the present strip. The area to the west of it is at present an illegal rubbish dump so there is room for expansion in that direction. Furthermore, the terminal, fire station and all the other infrastructure is already in place.

Some people are apprehensive of fixed-wing aircraft operations because they fear the airfield would become another Heathrow or at least another MIA. Relax - bigger aeroplanes, even those the size of a Boeing 737 or even RJ70, need much longer runways. It would never make sense, economically or otherwise, to operate large aircraft to Gozo which has such a small population.

An airfield guarantees that an open space will be preserved. Birds and small mammals actually thrive in the area of soil or grass between the runway and the airfield perimeter fence. Better than a built-up area any time.

Additional tourism would be generated by people who fly light aircraft (Cessna or Piper four-seaters and the like) and who would be attracted to fly to Gozo and spend some time there. They are not all rich playboys, as some people think, but they are a niche market worth developing.

Exactly two weeks after the end of the helicopter service, on November 14, due to sea conditions, not a single ferry crossed between Malta and Gozo. People on Gozo who had to fly from Gudja airport that day missed their flights. Gozitan shift workers needing to go to Malta to work or to return home after work could not do so. Thousands of Maltese were stranded on Gozo. Gozitans needing to attend St Luke's Hospital for dialysis or other urgent medical treatment were in trouble. Newspapers were not delivered to Gozo. In short, there was havoc.

So I urge the competent authorities to stop dragging their feet and take a realistic look at the funding, the environmental issues and not least the needs of the people of Gozo and get on with extending the runway to make it usable by fixed-wing aircraft. This alone would ensure a commercially viable air service between the two islands to the benefit of the Gozitan community as well as the country as a whole.