German low-cost airline extends Malta service

German low-cost airline Germanwings has decided to start flying to Malta all-year round, giving the island a potential major tourism boost from one of the most lucrative markets.

The airline launched services to the island a mere three weeks ago, but the response has been so encouraging it opted to extend its services to the lean months as well.

The German budget offshoot of national airline Lufthansa, Germanwings operates four flights a week, two each from the cities of Cologne and Stuttgart.

"This is a very positive signal. Germany was a problem market last year because of the lack of seat accessibility. It's a crucial market for the industry and it is encouraging news that the airline has decided to extend its service throughout winter as well," Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech told The Times.

The government had said the airline is expected to bring in about 13,000 visitors this year, but Malta Tourism Authority chairman Sam Mifsud, who headed the talks with Germanwings, would not be drawn into saying how many passengers it was now expected to fly.

To cater for the lack of seat capacity to Germany, national airline Air Malta recently also announced it would be increasing its flights to Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Berlin.

Lufthansa has agreed to start using larger aircraft on its Malta route.

Germanwings is the third low-cost airline to fly to Malta. Ryanair, which flies to Luton, Pisa and Dublin, is this year expected to bring over 90,000 passengers and the Italian airline Meridiana plans to fly over a further 6,000.

British Airways has also agreed to start flying three times a week to Manchester during the winter months.

Incidentally, Mr Mifsud and the Tourism Ministry's Permanent Secretary Peter Portelli were yesterday in Dublin holding meetings with Ryanair's chief operating officer Michael Cawley, which the minister said could lead to the introduction of more low-cost routes by the Irish airline.