Air Malta generating exceptional results

Air Malta's aggressive advertising campaigns in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and other core markets are generating exceptional results, the airline said.

It said it has experienced sharp increases in traffic over the last months notably on the UK, Italian, French, German and Austrian routes.

Between August and November this year, the airline increased the number of passengers on its UK routes by an average eight percentage points every month over the same period last year.

The Italian market has seen an average 18 per cent increase over the last seven months compared to last year and the French market experienced a 13 per cent increase in the last three months over the same period last year.

The German market registered an average 10 per cent increase in passengers.

Sales on Air Malta's scheduled network for November 2007 alone has gone up by 11 per cent.

December bookings have already surpassed last year's flown traffic and indications are that this month Air Malta will register an increase in traffic of about 14 per cent over December 2006. "These results can be attributed to the aggressive Air Malta advertising campaigns in Europe.

"Our integrated marketing communications campaigns have focused on the short break market segment and the 'extension' of the traditional summer season to the off-peak shoulder months with an increased emphasis on individual traffic," Air Malta's chief officer commercial, Brock Friesen, said.

"Sales through Air Malta's portal and internet booking engine have increased considerably and have grown by about five times from last year's sales figures.

"Customers like the simplicity and transparency of our competitive pricing and absence of hidden charges," he added.

Air Malta's total advertising spend on its core markets during these last months has been of about €700,000.

Together with the support of the Malta Tourism Authority, the airline commissioned TV spots, and various adverts on print media, billboards and on popular internal web portals, the airline noted.

"Last summer we also took the bold decision to increase seat capacity on core markets. On the German market, Air Malta increased the number of seats by no less than 27 per cent and floated five per cent more seats on the UK market.

"On the Italian market Air Malta increased seats by 39 per cent. Capacity on the Rome route alone was increased by 52 per cent.

"These decisions, coupled with the extensive advertising campaigns all over Europe, show that the increased passenger figures registered recently are not merely a coincidence.

"They are the result of a fresh new commercial strategy based on extensive market research which Air Malta has embarked on. This is an achievement we at Air Malta are all proud of," Dr Friesen said.