Reliable Air Malta

I can sympathise with both your correspondents Mark Lavelle from Mellieħa and Joseph Ellis from Victoria (Two Airlines' Lack Of Transparency, July 1).

Firstly, thankfully, I have not suffered the problems of flying from Manchester and Mr Lavelle has my sympathy.

He deserves a full explanation from Air Malta. Air Malta should also publish its policy regarding its flights by sub-contractors and whether this is a permanent change or not.

I can supply two e-mail addresses which may help him gain contact. He can try response.ebusiness@airmalta.com or, if that is no help, the following: brian.bartolo@airmalta.com

I, too, have had some problems with Swissair, who are not a patch on their predecessors at Gatwick. My luggage in Malta has sometimes arrived before I reached the conveyor belt. Now that is very impressive!

In the main I find Air Malta satisfactory. They could do better, but when compared with the experience suffered by Mr Ellis, they are not too bad at all.

If you fly with the alleged low-cost airlines, you have to accept that they must make their money somehow. This is usually done by using cheaper out-of-the-way airports (although not an option in Malta) and additional charges for items and services that other airlines automatically include, along with draconian rules for any customer attempting any type of refund for any reason. The airline mentioned by Mr Ellis is famous for this. I would certainly never use them.

I like the certainty and reliability of the Air Malta services that I use to and from Gatwick. I hope that Mr Lavelle gets the service that he expects if he continues to fly Air Malta from Manchester.