Malta route affected as Ryanair closes Valencia base

G Sciberras

Sep 25th 2010, 13:02

jew b xej jew xej .. u halluna

M Micallef

Oct 28th 2008, 11:51

@ M Zerafa, where exactly did I say that Air Malta should fly to Valencia? Can you re-read my post as I was saying exactly opposite!

Mark Zerafa

Oct 27th 2008, 22:19

@ M Micallef and Alex Mifsud..
Why should Air Malta operate a route when demand is already being serviced and satisfied by Ryanair? It does not make business sense. Why should an airline maintain a route selling just 40 or 50 seats, just for the sake of being there? The same plane can be better deployed flying to a route where Air Malta enjoys a good market share.
@ Sandro Grech
Do you leave it to the last minute to book your flights? I just booked SIX seats on Air Malta to Manchester for next July... at the grand price of 174 Euros per person, inclusive of taxes. How you manage to spend 500 of Brussel's finest beats me. Plan ahead, and you'll get the ticket cheap. It's not like last-minute bookings on Ryanair are really that cheap anyway. And if you do not appreciate 2 inches of extra legroom, you're lucky. I do not consider myself tall, but those two inches make the whole difference when stretching out a bit, or simply getting out of your seat without disturbing fellow passengers.

I agree that the crux of the matter could be MIA's heavy fees. Why should Ryanair be subsidised?

M Micallef

Oct 27th 2008, 15:12

Mr, Mifsud,
So according to you Ryanair wasn't asking for subsidies form the Comunitat Valenciana? What do you think the "promotion of the airport and its routes across Ryanair's network in Europe" means? It just means that your airport will be listed along with the other airports available on the Ryanair website! Big discussion and promotion, eh?
Ryanair pulled out of Valencia..."How's that for service". In the process a very big thank you to the passengers who paid in advance for the interest we are getting fro your money until we give you a refund. Are they going to refund the government and MIA for the special rates and subsides on the route as well?
Such a popular destination but Ryanair had to pull out, but Air Malta is really bad as it doesn't fly there. Was it foresight after all then, since it seems the destination was not very worth it. Who is the "mazzun" now?
BTW, you do realise Ryanair has about 10 times as many aircraft as Air Malta? So there might be places in the world where one can go and the other can't.

Alex Mifsud

Oct 27th 2008, 11:43

I have flown the Valencia route with Ryanair several times a year to visit family and friends and, knowing how to make a packed lunch, I never missed the meals. It was just great to be able to afford to travel so often, even just for a weekend to attend a wedding as I have done! For all that, I say, 'Thank you Ryanair'. Before Ryanair I used to have to fly Alitalia or Lufthansa, (€300-€500 or more per ticket!) with all the discomfort of a stopover.

Ryanair are often arrogant, but the article says Ryanair was not asking for subsidies this time, but for help promoting the region abroad - something that would have benefited Valencia anyway. I don't think that is an unreasonable demand.

I am just disappointed and annoyed at the way they left passengers stranded. I was going to fly to Valencia with my wife and child for just €250 total to spend Christmas with friends.

I wouldn't mind paying a bit more to fly Airmalta, but they don't even fly to such a popular country as Spain!!! How's that for service?

Sandro Grech

Oct 27th 2008, 10:49

Air Malta flights are very expensive . For most of us Maltese people who work in hotels and factories etc Personally I do not miss the hard dry bun I got on Air Malta nor the 2 inches extra leg space .

m farrugia

Oct 27th 2008, 10:47

I also do not agree that the govt should pay subsidies to Ryanair. The most logic option to attract Ryanair was to put pressure on MIA to reduce its landing fees for all airlines, thus helping Airmalta offer more competitive prices and attracting LCCs. It is absurd that MIA boasts that its fees compare with fees of big airports such as Heathrow, where tens of planes take off and land every minute!

MIA fees should compare to airports such as Pisa, Torino, Girona, Genoa etc.

Regarding Airmalta, none can deny its importance. It is surely giving a service to everybody, travel agents in particular, but surely not to independent travellers, who are not willing to pay an average of euro 500 for a return trip for two persons, when they can fly with Ryanair for euro 80.

Tony Bonello

Oct 27th 2008, 10:08

Its a futher good REASON NOT TO US RYANAIR, really bad service and bumpy landings

R.Zammit

Oct 26th 2008, 19:58

@M.Farrugia hardly an invention:
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-113313720.html

This is the headline: "Ryanair stripping its planes of all 'luxuries'; Reclining seats, headrests and blinds go on new 737s to save £1.5m."

Oh and Mariella, I have flown FY. Enough said.

@M.Zarb; The objections are not against Ryanair, but against OUR Government paying them a ridiculous amount of money per passenger. This is severely affecting our own Air Malta which does not get similar help.

As M.Micallef suggested, Air Malta has paid millions of liri in profits along the years, and has only hit hard times recently. It still pays the Government some 5-10 million Euros a year in Income tax and NI.

Look at it another way: You can argue that Mater Dei was paid for solely by the income tax paid by Air Malta employees in the last 5-10 years. If Ryanair (with our own Government's help) manage to make Air Malta go bankrupt, not only Air Malta's employees lose out, (as does the whole tourism industry and ancillary services), but its replacement will no doubt be foreign,possibly Ryanair itself......... and its headoffice will be abroad, which is where its taxes will be paid.

Someone needs to look further than his/her nose.

M Micallef

Oct 26th 2008, 15:13

@ M. Farrugia, You lash out at Air Malta because it has hundreds of employees, gives "free" tickets to employees, but then call Ryanair a good buisness sense. Ok, so let's call the Government to remove the subsidies to Ryanair, and force them to keep all the routes to and from Malta, even if they are less than break even. Let's make sure they pay up, the legal penalties for delays and cancellations. Let's make sure they give the Maltese employees a guarantee for their jobs, even if they leave the island. You honestly believe that by giving you a poor meal they are making money? Do have a vague idea how much it costs, to train staff, properly, not minimum allowable, buy and maintain aircraft, land in half decent airports, not ex-military fields, etc?
I believe that the customer has a right to choose, fly Ryanair or whoever, but do not belittle Air Malta, because probably you don't know what a service it is doing to the country. Do you remember Helisuireste, the Gozo Helicopter service or lack thereof? Food for thought!
!

M. Zarb

Oct 26th 2008, 13:04

Why are people complaining? Nobody's forcing anyone to fly with either Ryanair or AirMalta - I'm a frequent traveller on both services, and can say that both have their advantages. I'd like to dismiss the rumours that Ryanair planes have no blinds/no engines/no pilots etc however - this is getting slightly ridiculous.

As to whoever said 'we want quality not quantity', excuse me? Are you saying that people that choose to travel 'cheap' are "scum" not worthy of our country?

The best comparison is probably a Malta bus vs. a limousine. Both can get you to the same destination; just the price and quality differ.

K.Abela

Oct 26th 2008, 07:03

@R.Zammit.
I completley agree with you, plus:

A complete commitment to safety for all passengers....

Mark Zerafa

Oct 26th 2008, 01:21

Ryanair has always shone as a chaser of profits, regardless of anything else. As soon as a route is not profitable enough, they drop it, regardless of how many passengers they leave stranded. Cheap fares, cheap tricks, cheap service.

Ryanair is very much a back-packer's airline. You pay for everything imaginable! You can even pay an extra fee to be allowed aboard the aircraft before others, in the hope of scrambling for a better seat!

Air Malta has had to shoulder the burden of maintaining non-profitable routes in the national interest, has ferried people around for free according to national need, has sponsored numerous activities of national interest. I'm not sure who's doing most to help the tourist industry. When was the last time Ryanair ever showed an sense of Corporate Social Responsibility?

And yet, Ryanair seem to get the most assistance, and they're always moaning and groaning. And what they do not get through their PR machine, they try to get through their lawyers. A Malta base for Ryanair? Sure! Then let them twist our country's arm even more! If we have any cash to spare, let it go to our National Airline not to that Irish miser!

m farrugia

Oct 25th 2008, 22:11

Ryanair make good profits not because they have a lousy service, but because they have good business sense and are not burdened with overheads, such as hundreds of employees in their head office. Unlike Airmalta they do not probably offer free flights to wives, children and parents of employees and years of free flights to chairmen? Do these benefits still make sense in such a competitive world? After all Airmalta's passengers are making good for these benefits. These seats given away free to relatives could be offered at very low prices to flypass members. The flypass awards are quite unattractive now when taxes and surcharges still make them much more expensive than Ryanair. I have just booked return flights for 2 persons at a price of about Euro 40 euros.

m farrugia

Oct 25th 2008, 22:10

Mr Zammit


From your comments it is clear that you have never used Ryanair, and as usual for us Maltese are basing your facts "fuq li smajt" such as that that Ryanair planes have no window blinds! Regarding inflight food, which sometimes is only a piece of lettuce and cheese and the glass of wine, I assure that at Airmalta's prices you are paying for your food. Besides, who needs food and business class nowadays for flights of 2 hours? Nowadays, you even notice Maltese businessmen on Ryanair flights to London and Dublin.

l Galea

Oct 25th 2008, 21:22

Charles Micallef
Cheap flights only bring cheap passengers.
We want quality not quantity.
Why should we subsidize Ryanair more when they are making billions of euros profit and not Air Malta which is the National Airline?

M Micallef

Oct 25th 2008, 19:57

Don't worry replace Valencia with Malta and Comunitat Valenciana with Malta International Airport or MTA very soon. Ryanair has been getting subsidies since they came here, Maltese taxpayer's money going to foreign private company! read down the drain. Just you wait and see and let us see what's going to happen. Staff on forced unpaid leave, planes grounded, routes closing $60 million loss,(before reselling planes), all this winter. By the way, do yourselves a favour and visit ryanaircampaign.org and see all the headlines, including Maltese press to see what type of airline, Ryanair is. They will have no qualms in leaving Malta, with the excuse that airport charges are too high...as Bremen, Rimini Klangenfurt, Valencia etc
It's all about statistics and marketing!

R. Zammit

Oct 25th 2008, 17:49

@M.Farrugia
Why don't you give the whole picture and not just choose a one in a million combination. Is that how Ryanair makes an annual $1 billion is profit, by charging €0.02? Get real.

I am sure you can find a similar priced ticket with Air Malta, but included you would have:

31 inch leg room as opposed to Ryanair's 29 inches
you will land in your city of choice and not 150km away in a field they call your destination.
a free meal
a free bottle wine on selected routes
as many free soft drinks/water as you can consume
a loyalty card that gives you free flights on some 40/50 destinations
connectivity to other flights
a clean plane and toilets
free baggage (even more than one bag)
20 kg of luggage per person (not 15)
free inflight entertainment
free inflight magazine
fresh headrest cover
window blind!
reclining seats
club/business class
carriage of cargo
Pre-assigned seating and not a rush for seats and risk sitting a few rows away from your kid.
You won't have to stand in line for at leat 30mins for above reason
free check-in (extra payment with ryanair)
I could go on...

R.Zammit

Oct 25th 2008, 16:49

@Paul Cassar

I read somewhere that Ryanair were irate at the Council for not giving in to their demands for EVEN MORE subsidies. When the Council agreed to give subsidies to a Ryanair competitor/s, they closed down their base in anger. That's business with Ryanair...... with a gun to your head.

m farrugia

Oct 25th 2008, 16:02

Mr Cassar

Not flying Ryanair is just your loss. Fly another airlines, and you'll definitely pay hundreds of euros more.

About two weeks ago, you could have booked a return flight for the price of Euro0.02, carrying only hand luggage and paying with BOV Visa electron card (30 euros return with one checked baggage and paying with visa electron)

Now you can still get a return trip for 20 euros, carrying only hand luggage and paying with Bov Visa electron card (50 euros return with one checked baggage and paying with visa electron)

No gimmicks or hidden charges, tried it, this is the real price.

m farrugia

Oct 25th 2008, 15:32

Maybe it is the opportune moment to encourage Ryanair to operate a base of three to five aircraft in Malta. This will be a big boost both for Maltese travellers and Malta's tourism at such a delicate time when at least 30 low cost flights a week operating to Malta have been cancelled since Summer. Otherwise, those who still intend travelling taking advantage of low cost travel will simply choose another destination, from the over 200 routes, including Turkey and Morocco, operated by Ryanair alone.

m farrugia

Oct 25th 2008, 15:29

Very bad news for Malta indeed

At least the following flights that operated in Summer will not be operating to Malta in Winter:

Ryanair 3 flights a week from Bremen
Ryanair 3 flights a week from Valencia
Airmalta 2 flights a week from Bologna
Clickair 2 flights a week from Barcelona
Vueling, 3 flights a week from Madrid
Alitalia, 6 flights a week from Milan
Volareweb, 3 flights a week from Milan
German Wings, 4 flights a week to Cologne and Stuttgart

Total 26 flight X 100 passengers - circa 2600 loss of tourists a week plus a number of other Airmalta flights which will not be operating

At such a delicate time for the economy,Malta cannot afford to lose tourists, just because there is no availability of reasonably priced flights to Malta.

Malta still does not have a direct flight from Portugal and Spain (only Girona with Ryanair).
Airmalta please wake up. How can Spain and Portugal be ignored?

Ryanair should be encouraged to replace Valencia route with another route - Portugal, Germany, France and East European countries are not even served by one low cost route.

Charles Micallef

Oct 25th 2008, 14:44

No one likes to pay subsidies, but when they produce the volume of passengers that they promised as Ryanair and other LCC did, then subsidies are justified!

Leli Agius

Oct 25th 2008, 13:47

Ryanair knows how to deal/ both with passengers and authorities.

Ryanair keeps the cheap prices due to the fact that it demands commission from Governments. basically it's like having a restaurant. I make an agreement with the owner. that for every client I get him he pays me 5 euro. there is nothing illegal in that.

I'm sure that the comune of valencia has lost jobs etc and not Ryanair in this case.

I have traveled with Ryanair more than 10 times, I know what I pay for. So those people who pretend an Airmalta service from an airline where you pay just 20 euro for a return flight including taxes is unfair.

joe Borg

Oct 25th 2008, 13:20

Well, that is only what made it to the news.
Vuelingwill stopped operations from Madrid.
Volare will stop from Milan.
German Wings will stop its flights.
What few know is that low cost got about €1390000 per route as assistance.
As the saying goes when the going gets though, the tough get going. So much for low cost loyalty to our tourist industry.
With all its imperfections Air Malta is the only airline with long term commitment to our industry and not only tourism.
What I can't understand is why is it that while foreign grab goers airlines get the millions ,while Air Malta is expected to honour all social responsibility without any compensation.

A Grech

Oct 25th 2008, 12:54

They already support ryanair... I believe the contract will end in 2010...let see what happens when the contract close.... if they will still operate flight from-to Malta..

Another thing Malta is trying to be sustainable..do you believe that low cost carriers will help to achieve this sustainable objective? mmm a research should be done on how much passengers coming with Ryanair spend in our country.

Paul Cassar

Oct 25th 2008, 12:35

We have not heard why the Council at Valencia did not wish to meet Ryanair. They may have very valid reasons which we Maltese and our Government should better know. Let us not forget that, if I am not mistaken, we are subsidising Ryanair!!! But here it seems, subsdidies are OK.

D. Farrugia

Oct 25th 2008, 12:16

so from NOVEMBER

direct flights to bologna , glasgow using airmalta will halt; the same with valencia.
also from UK charter flights some of them will stop.
ALITALIA from milan daily flights have stopped this year


can someone from the authority (MTA) discuss how can we increase directflights.
for instance....if ryanair make a base here (2 aircraft) there will be an increase of 700,000 per year.

Can we give some financial support?
Dont forget that the tourism authorities support charter flights and give subsidies like Thompson.
so what about support a low cost base in malta ???
ANY COMMENTS PLS

H P Farrugia

Oct 25th 2008, 12:14

Having been negativey affected by this cancellation.... Isn't it ironic that the decision was taken JUST AFTER 3 HOURS THAT THE SPECIAL OFFERS ON TICKETS ENDED???? Was there foul play or is it just coincidence?

A Daley

Oct 25th 2008, 12:04

Yes, and how ironic to have some economic and financial expert (!) in Malta, predicting that the downturn in other country's economic activity is beneficial for us!

We shall see!

T Mifsud

Oct 25th 2008, 11:25

In the most critical week of the Alitalia crises, Ryanair's aircraft that came to Malta sported a large "Arrivederci Alitalia" on the fuselage.

How ironic!

Charles Micallef

Oct 25th 2008, 11:06

Now that Ryanair has kept its word and proved its point that it delivers passengers in big numbers, would Ryanair not consider MIA as a base instead of Valencia?

This will be THE ULTIMATE win win situation!

Tony Cassar

Oct 25th 2008, 10:29

Just another good example of the "Either my way or no way" policy that Ryanair employs wherever it manages to sneak in.

I hope that the new base will not be set up in Malta, because you can be sure that we would eventually suffer the same fate as Valencia.

I've flown low cost before, but never with Ryanair because of such arrogant tactics.