Ryanair to fly to Germany

Europe's largest low-fare airline Ryanair yesterday announced it would be linking Malta with the all-important German route.

The new link between Malta and Bremen will operate three times weekly from September 25, Ryanair's Sales Manager for Southern Europe, Bridget Dowling, said.

The new route will carry an additional 40,000 passengers to and from Malta every year and create an additional 40 jobs, according to Ms Dowling.

Since October, Ryanair has introduced three new routes to Malta, from Luton, Pisa and Dublin, with the Irish airline forecasting its passengers would plough some €30 million into the local economy.

"We have already seen great success on the three existing Ryanair routes from Malta and we are confident that this new route to Bremen will be equally successful," she said.

"This will mean more inbound passengers to Malta as well as a greater choice and even more low fares for Maltese consumers who want to escape from Air Malta's high fares."

To mark this new route, Ryanair is offering flights from just one euro cent (excluding taxes) on all Maltese routes and the airline advised passengers to log onto the website immediately, as demand for bargain seats will be very strong.

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.

Last week, German low-cost airline Germanwings announced it would be flying to Malta all year round following the success of its peak-season service.

On April 19, the government said it would be opening up the possibility for low-cost airlines to operate from Bari, Italy; Bremen, Germany; any airport in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal); and any airport in Scandinavia.

When contacted, Malta Tourism Authority chairman Sam Mifsud said he was expecting Ryanair to start serving an additional three routes following discussions held between the airline and MTA. Other low-cost airlines, including a Norwegian one, were also in negotiations.

Mr Mifsud said he believed Germany was being underserved and was still trailing behind the UK market, despite the potential in numbers.

He insisted that Air Malta will have no problem in maintaining its German routes and that the national airline still had a pivotal role in serving such a market.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said it was particularly positive that Bremen was included in the list of destinations following lengthy deliberations.

The arrival of LCCs in Malta has been a major contributor to the turnaround of the monthly decline in arrivals, the association said.

MHRA president Josef Formosa Gauci highlighted that today more European travellers have changed the way they look for a destination, book their holiday and ultimately travel to that destination.

The MHRA also stressed the importance of continuing the strategy to increase the number of low-cost routes into Malta and to include additional routes from the UK, the market within which penetration into low cost travel is the highest within Europe.