Ryanair boss hails Malta route 'overwhelming success'

No fewer than 30,000 seats have been snapped up for Ryanair's Malta route, as Europe's largest low-cost airline yesterday unveiled plans to apply for at least four other routes.

And to celebrate Ryanair's new routes, the airline has announced it will be giving away 20,000 free flights from Malta.

"Considering we're starting the routes to Malta in November, this is an overwhelming success," Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said.

The Ryanair chairman lived up to his flamboyant reputation during a flying visit to Malta yesterday afternoon, two days after the airline's inaugural flight to the island.

Walking into the airport's conference room draped in a Maltese flag and dressed up casually, Mr O'Leary did not miss an opportunity to pull faces at the cameras and constantly crack jokes.

"I was told to go to Malta because there is all-year-round sunshine and the moment I step off the plane it starts raining. That's it, I'm pulling Ryanair out of Malta," he quipped.

Mr O'Leary is, however, fully aware that the take up of the Malta flights has been impressive. The airline has sold 90 per cent of the seats in the first week of operation, clearly showing there is huge potential for low fares to deliver record tourism growth in Malta.

He believes the Dublin route, which kicks off in February, will be even more successful than the Luton and Pisa ones.

"Ryanair will carry 200,000 passengers in the first year of operation, generating a tourism spend of €36 million and delivering 85,000 visitors to the island for a fraction of the high fares charged by Air Malta," he said.

Mr O'Leary said his airline was already in discussion with the government and Malta International Airport to operate some or all of the four routes earmarked in a government and MIA financial incentive scheme - Spain, Poland, Norway and Sweden. Other routes could follow suit after these four, he said.

There were also talks to open a Ryanair aircraft base here, with the potential of generating two million passenger movements a year, the chief executive added.

He argued that the surest way of delivering tourism growth was to encourage the development of low-fare routes and to reduce the "excessively high Maltese airport charges".

Still, he applauded MIA for taking a brave decision and slashing fees on certain routes.

Ryanair has already shown it is committed to developing low-fare routes to Malta but it was essential that the government also plays its part in lowering the cost of travel by attacking the monopoly airport costs and by reducing this prohibitively high ticket tax, the outspoken airline executive said.

Mr O'Leary argued that Ryanair's arrival would be good for Air Malta, as evidenced by the Irish airline's impact on other national airlines.

"Other airlines have grown stronger and more competitive with our arrival and Air Malta will be encouraged to introduce lower fares. For Ryanair to succeed, we don't need Air Malta to fail," he insisted.

Ryanair was committed to keep its fares down, and would keep on absorbing the fuel surcharge - even if the costs shoots up to $200 a barrel.

Despite the tough talk during the negotiations, Mr O'Leary appeared comfortable sitting alongside Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech and MIA chief executive Peter Bolech as he addressed the press.

"We will never iron out our differences and we will keep fighting with MIA and the tourism authorities. We will be calling out for lower airport charges and we will do so to bring more improvements. That's the nature of our relationship," he laughed, clowning about.

An interview with Mr O'Leary will appear in tomorrow's edition of The Times.