Ryanair, the Irish low-cost airline, is looking at the possibility of permanently basing two planes in Malta and doubling its routes to the island within a few months.
The base could double the number of passengers carried to Malta by Ryanair annually to 1.1 million, leaving €275 million in the island, the airline's head of route development, Ken O'Toole, said.
"We believe we are the solution for Malta," Mr O'Toole said, adding that up to 120 employees would be based in Malta.
But the airline, which expects to increase its passengers by nine million this year, would only set up a base on the island if local airport costs were reduced through a scheme that rewards airlines bringing big volumes of passengers into the market.
"We believe that anyone who delivers should be rewarded," he said, adding that the fair and transparent cost base should be opened to all airlines.
Mr O'Toole said no talks had been held with the airport but he yesterday met Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco. He said discussions were still at "very early stages" but the lines of communication had opened and he hoped more talks would be held in the coming weeks.
Dr de Marco's office confirmed a meeting was held at Ryanair's request with representatives of the Malta Tourism Authority and the government.
"If the strategy we presented coincides with the government's desire, then we can talk about numbers," Mr O'Toole said, adding that Ryanair was willing to discuss new routes with the authorities. The airline has 32 bases and flies to 146 airports, operating 1,200 daily flights.
Mr O'Toole said that, although there was nothing concrete, the airline was still in time to set up a two-plane base in Malta by October but no deadlines or ultimatums had been given to the authorities.
"We talked about the possibility of opening 12 new routes and bringing an extra 600,000 passengers as early as October." He said the airline was not looking at reducing its routes from Malta if no agreement was reached. Mr O'Toole said airport costs were being cut all over Europe. His colleague, Colin Casey, said Malta's airport charges were three times the average in other airports, posing a major constraint for low fares.
"As a reward for the cost coming down, we would guarantee certain levels of growth, which no other airline can do," Mr Casey said, adding that Italy would probably take half of the nine million growth predicted for this year.
This was not the first time the airline has spoken about setting a base on the island. In 2007, Ryanair's deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said a local base could attract passengers travelling with other airlines, who would catch a connection flight in Malta.
Last year, a Ryanair official had said that, despite positive results in Malta, further growth or the establishment of a base were unrealistic unless lower airport costs were introduced.
The airline has also recently announced a move for online check-ins, fining €40 passengers who failed to present a boarding card at the airport. But Mr O'Toole justified the move: "They forget once, they won't do it again. You are picking on a very isolated incident," he said.
Mr O'Toole also ruled out a fee to use the toilets on Ryanair flights, describing it as a joke.
The airline has ruled out imposing a tax on obese passengers.