Air Malta prepares new marketing plans as ash cloud crisis recedes

Air Malta has started working on aggressive marketing plans in all markets in the wake of the ash cloud disruption, in a bid to return to the demand it was registering over the last months.

The airline said that flights were now operating normally. Over 200 Air Malta flights for destinations from Malpensa northwards had to be cancelled due to these restrictions.

To minimize inconvenience to its passengers over the last few days Air Malta operated over 60 reliefs flights to Rome, Graz, Marseilles, Zurich, Toulouse and London Gatwick.

It also made alternative arrangements for cargo stuck in Frankfurt by trucking it to other airports currently serviced by Air Malta such as Rome, Marseille, Toulouse and Rome.

"The preliminary estimate of the financial impact on Air Malta runs into hundreds of thousands Euros in lost revenue each day of the crisis. This crisis can also have an impact on future bookings which were picking up for summer," Air Malta said.

Airline associations including IATA and the Association of European airlines (AEA) are holding talks with the various authorities involved with a view to providing guidance to airlines as to how to deal with passenger care related issues in the current circumstances.