Ryanair plans flights from October 31

At least one major low-cost airline will be flying to Malta very soon, after a government-appointed committee yesterday accepted the proposals of Ryanair and EasyJet.

Europe's biggest budget airline Ryanair is prepared to start operations to Malta by the end of October though it is not clear when, or if, EasyJet will follow suit.

Ryanair submitted proposals to start daily flights to Luton and three weekly flights to Pisa and Dublin. It wants to increase the frequencies of the Pisa flight as demand picks up.

EasyJet applied to start daily flights to Luton and five weekly flights to Mulhouse-Basel.

The routes were those on offer in return for government incentives and support schemes totalling Lm1 million in a bid to get airlines to fly to underserved destinations and boost tourism in the shoulder months. The acceptance of the proposals marks the culmination of a long-drawn out debate over whether low-fare carriers should operate to Malta, given the threat they pose to established airlines.

Major operators in the tourism industry have been clamouring for their introduction and the move will also be welcomed by Maltese travellers.

The adjudicating committee appointed to review the bids forwarded its recommendations to the government yesterday.

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said the government was accepting their recommendation and letters were in fact sent yesterday to both airlines informing them of the decision.

The minister said the government was reacting in the fastest possible manner, conscious of the lead time required by the airlines to promote the flights. He added that, since this is a state aid matter, acceptance of these proposals remains subject to approval by the European Commission.

A spokesman for Ryanair in Malta said the airline was delighted that the evaluation process had been finalised in a matter of days.

The Ryanair publicity is to start at once to make sure the first flights from Pisa and Luton to Malta take off by the end of October. The flights to Dublin are expected to start next February.

"We are hoping more routes will be opened and that eventually we will be granted a base in Malta," the spokesman said.

Ryanair yesterday confirmed it had carried a record four million passengers last month, making it the first airline to carry more than four million international passengers in one month.

To mark this achievement, Ryanair is planning to give away four million free seats on its 371 European routes over the next seven days.

It is not clear whether the Malta flights will form part of this offer.

The local representative of EasyJet could not be contacted as he is currently abroad.

Sources close to the industry have, however cast doubts on whether the Luton-based airline will actually start its operations since Ryanair has confirmed it will also be flying to Malta. While Ryanair's deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said his airline did not fear competition, EasyJet has remained conspicuously absent from the debate. Sources said that EasyJet applied to start operations next April or May.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association noted with satisfaction that the government had heeded its recommendation to speed up the review of the tender proposals.

The MHRA expressed certainty that this would help the tourism industry in no small way considering the impact low-cost airlines exert in the travel business. The association urged the government to consider opening up a number of routes from Germany and other UK airports. It also welcomed the news that another low-cost airline, German Wings, will be operating to Malta from as early as next March, while Meridiana has promised to keep its operation going throughout this winter too.

The Italian market is the only core market that has been registering growth since last April. Philip Fenech, president of the Tourism and Leisure Division of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, the GRTU, welcomed the news as an extremely positive start.

"We've been working for 18 months on this. Although it's a good start, it will not solve our tourism ailments, because since not enough routes have been offered," Mr Fenech said.

The adjudicating committee was composed of Tourism Ministry Permanent Secretary Peter Portelli, Competitiveness Ministry Permanent Secretary Marcel Pizzuto, Malta Tourism Authority chief executive David Mifsud, Tourism Ministry EU Affairs and Policy Development director Marie Louise Mangion, and Malta International Airport marketing manager Chris Fenech.