Juan Ameen
The worst is over, says Air Malta CEO
Air Malta got through its hardest year in 2008 after it had to fork out an extra €30 million for fuel and lost around €10 million because of the weak British sterling.
Despite this, Air Malta chief executive officer Joe Cappello said he was confident the worst was over: "In fact, we are glad it is over".
The increase of one dollar in the price of oil cost the airline €500,000 while the drop in the value of the sterling against the euro cost a total of €10 million, Mr Cappello said, during the launch of the 16th edition of the Amitex fair.
The airline was also affected by the decline in tourism from Malta's core markets which were affected by the recession, he added.
Last winter, the airline carried 484,418 passengers, a drop of 26,415 passengers - almost five per cent - when compared to the winter months of 2007.
However, Air Malta will increase its seat capacity by 50,000 seats and introduce an extra 15 flights a week in the summer.
Passengers will also be able to travel to two new destinations, Verona and Stuttgart, or book a seat on one of the four flights a week to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
Air Malta also introduced direct flights to Sofia and Istanbul and reinstated the Moscow flight as well as increasing the number of flights to Zurich, Frankfurt and Munich.
The airline is hoping to boost the travel sector through Amitex, a fair in which 34 local and foreign exhibitors will be advertising their services and travel offers.
The fair will be held at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre and will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. between next Thursday and Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
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Geoff White
Apr 20th 2009, 20:47
Air Malta used to fly from Bristol but have stopped it. Consequently, Ryanair have filled that gap. We always flew with Air Malta from Heathrow because of their stopping the Bristol flight. On our last two visits, New Year and Easter this year we flew with Easyjet but we'd much prefer Air Malta but they have become too expensive. No wonder they have lost 26,000 passengers.
Andrew Harding
Apr 20th 2009, 17:06
Compared to most, Air Malta is a fantastic airline with some superb people working for them, recently I had cause to be in touch with Brian Bartolo and Roseanne Dalli at Air Malta HQ Luqa, as always they were very helpfull with my requests for which my wife and I are very gratefull, thank you both once gain you put to shame much bigger airlines such as our very own BA who I think couldn't even spell the words "customer service" never mind carry it out to our expectations, Viva Air Malta.
A Anderson
Apr 20th 2009, 12:44
What about the Stansted flight which is operated by no one at the moment?
The options to that part of the UK are completely ignored - some people would rather not get congested in the London Traffic to go to Heathrow or Gatwick.
Is Marketing only about London and Londoners? Don't other parts of the UK exist? Some people would much rather not travel to the big London airports to avoid the terrible congestions on the M25.
Of course the other option is Luton.. AirMalta is just opening doors to Ryan Air and Easy Jet by letting go of smaller more efficient airports such as Stansted. And more often than not people would prefer to fly the national airline..
Brian Hurley
Apr 20th 2009, 10:34
Air Malta continues to ignore the Irish market.
Ryanair flies out of Dublin 3 times a week to Malta, but Dublin airport serves circa 2 million of Ireland 4.5m population.
Air Malta should seriously look at flying out of Cork or Shannon in the south & west of the country. Sun destinations out of Cork do very well. Ryanair already have a base in Shannon, so possibly adding Malta might not be overly difficult.
Why should Malta be only open to those living in the east of Ireland around Dublin ?????
A Micallef
Apr 20th 2009, 10:01
One of the biggest emerging markets is Spain, yet Airmalta does not offer one single flight to this destination. Low cost airlines are providing an excellent service but these are not an option for Spanish tour operators trying to offer Malta as a destination. Their clients are faced with an indirect flight via Frankfurt or Rome with Lufthansa or Alitalia and you would have to be very determined to visit Malta, to undergo such inconvenience. Perhaps MIA could help by scrapping landing fees for flights from Spain. Cyprus has just scrapped all landing fees and airport taxes in a desperate attempt to save its tourism industry. The year ahead seems very uncertain. Maybe it is time for us to wake up and smell the coffee.