Amadeo Mifsud, Attard
Airstrip: Gozo's downfall or deliverance? (1)
The Gozo Business Chamber (GBC) claims that with an "airstrip" Gozo could be sold as a distinct tourist destination.
However, travelling by air to Gozo would still require taking an additional flight out from MIA - more travel time; higher travel cost - unless one could fly in directly from overseas, which would make the "airstrip" an international airport!
This is the purported solution to Gozo's alleged problems - an "airstrip" to provide a constant influx of tourists.
If one cannot already imagine what this would do to Gozo, one need only look at what such a "dream" - as the GBC likes to call it - did to Malta.
It would line a few select pockets and ruin just about anything else that is of value on this gem of an island.
Needless to say, one would have to provide adequate accommodation for these masses of tourists.
Then expect the GBC to start whinging again about the shortage of beds and the need to build more hotels, possibly with some form of subsidy to boot. Fast forward to the third phase of the now familiar cycle - a little blip in the tourist industry, hotels suddenly become unfeasible, close down, and are pulled down and rebuilt into ghastly apartment blocks.
While the tourism industry is important for Gozo, it is not as important as it is made out to be by certain quarters.
Besides, Gozo already has a tourist market right across the channel.
The Maltese tourist does not need an "airstrip" to visit Gozo and, if you ask any Gozitan who works in the industry, the Maltese are by far the preferred sort of tourist.
So, why would one want to invest huge amounts of public funds to build an "airstrip" just to bring second-preference tourists over to Gozo?
Why bother, when one could save all that money, and continue targeting the first preference tourist market?
The answer probably is that there must be more to the "airstrip" than meets the eye.
An "airstrip" may serve some particular interests in Gozo but it does no good to the island or its community.
No benefit whatsoever will rub off on your typical Gozitan. An "airstrip" is not what your typical Gozitan needs or wants.
The Gozitans are a very smart and hard-working lot. Their only problem is that the source of their services and wares is too detached from the market, and this is not only in the geographical sense of the word.
An "airstrip" would do nothing to bridge that gap. What the Gozitans need is the know-how, resources and means to penetrate a market, promote their products and services, and tap the benefits.
The problem is the same as it was decades ago when the streets of Gozo used to be lined with women of all ages making lace items that they would sell typically for 50c to shop owners in Malta who would then display them in their shops with a Lm5 tag.
Those who had access to the market made the most profit with the least effort, while those who had the know-how and put in the effort only got the crumbs.
Such a situation has subsisted, almost unchanged, for decades and there are those who might want it to remain unchanged so they can continue to propose "solutions" that only serve as vehicles to push their hidden agendas.
The "airstrip" is one such "solution" but no one has explained how it would help sell the incredible array of Gozitan wares that remain hidden from all but those who spend years familiarising themselves with this magic island and its people.
Instead of pumping public funds into a useless "airstrip," government would do well to spend the money to provide the means for Gozitans to discover niche markets for their top-class products and services, and to help them bring their wares to such markets at competitive prices.
An added advantage of such a strategy would be the distribution of the benefits among a much wider segment of the Gozitan community.
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Romano Cassar
Mar 14th 2010, 01:37
Mr Rod Abela, are you willing to put up the capital and recurrent expenditure to build and maintain an international airport in Gozo? Or are you just spouting a lot of hot air in the hope that this would provide the lift for a balloon??
Angelo Xerri
Feb 25th 2010, 20:56
Gozo does not need an airport, because if an landing strip is built, the airport keeps on expanding, meaning Eco Gozo is forgotten. The Gozo channel is doing a good service, but it could be improved by a shuttle coach that picks air travellers at the Haliport and the same coach goes on the ferry and keeps going to the airport with passengers and their bags. No difference from an airlink only about an hour or so. Less baggage handling at the ferry on either side. The bookings for the airport are done at least a week in advance and the shuttle bus can be booked at the same time. It will be easy what size of bus is required. Is there anybody serious about Eco Gozo.
lesley kreupl
Feb 25th 2010, 18:08
Well written Mr. Mifsud, it really is about time that people realised that the Gozitans do not need an airport!
tony abela
Feb 25th 2010, 17:10
"Needless to say, one would have to provide adequate accommodation for these masses of tourists." No problem my friend, to really ruin Eco-Gozo completely kindly refer to the news item published few hours ago on this e-paper. That is Marsalforn block of appartments, 12-storey high.
Rod Abela
Feb 25th 2010, 17:06
@RomanoCassar
Sorry my friend but you do not know what you are talking about and please read carefully what I wrote.. The needs of a microlight aircraft are much smaller than those of general aviation aircraft - do you at least understand this? A microlight aircraft can land and take off in less than 150 mts while a GA aircraft (Cessna, Piper etc) needs 400-600 mts. Larger 19 seat commuter aircraft need 600-800 mts to ensure safe operation, even though some of them can use about 400mts of runway. Before you comment I suggest you get your facts right first.
And yes with a small airstrip as we are proposing you can reach towns and cities lying 400kms away! Why are you so surprised? A small airstrip does not mean that it should be used to establish the Gozo-Malta link and stop there. The 800 mt runway should also be used to link Gozo to other places around us. What is wrong in enabling Gozitans to fly direct from Gozo to (for example) Catania in just 45 minutes, when today it can take a Gozitan more than 5 hours to travel a mere 100 miles (including a ferry trip)???
Romano Cassar
Feb 25th 2010, 14:26
Mr Mercieca, please have a look at today's letter on the same issue, by Roderick Abela.
Mr Abela writes: "We are not just encouraging the authorities to build an airstrip to link Gozo with Malta, but we are pushing it further - link Gozo to other towns and cities lying within a 400km radius from Gozo" Is this a small general aviation airfield?
Again quoting Mr Abela, "we do not need a private little airport at all because our little aircraft have absolutely no problem to operate from the existing runway strip at the Gozo Heliport ..... . We have been operating over Gozo for many years and since last September the authorities have given us permission to land at the "heliport". There has not been one single complaint from residents living around the heliport!"
So, again according to Mr Abela, the needs of the GA community are already satisfied. In view of Mr Abela's letter, Mr Mifsud's letter seems to make a lot of sense.
lgalea
Feb 25th 2010, 13:35
Victor G.Mercieca This is about destruction of the Gozitan environment and a screen for military operations as inadvertently exposed by a contributor a little while ago. Do the Gozitans want to continue destroying their environment and expose themselves to the dangers of military aircraft and operations and possibly retaliatory measures such as attacks including terrorist attacks? This is also an issue that concerns ALL the Maltese people and not only the Gozitans Victor.
Victor G.Mercieca
Feb 25th 2010, 12:43
Mr.Mifsud your lack of understanding that puts this issue in jeopardy & often makes it challenging for any administration to navigate effectively! This is about a small General Aviation airfield serving the larger community in more ways then one, not for Airlines to operate.