News about the reorganisation required by Air Malta seems to have gone silent. As a frequent traveller to/from Rome, I was hoping this route would be the first to have been addressed.

For quite a few years now, Air Malta saw it fit to operate the short flight to Rome with a stop in Reggio Calabria on the way and vice-versa. This is extremely inconvenient for Malta-based, Rome-bound passengers (or Malta-bound from Rome in the evening) who not only have to extend their journey time by nearly 200 per cent but also have to make their way to the airport much earlier unnecessarily, at present at 5 a.m. but previously even at 3 a.m.

What is most surprising is that not more than a handful of passengers travel to/from Malta to Reggio Calabria (often five or 10) while not many more alight on the Reggio to Rome leg or vice-versa. One asks: Does this stop make any sense, commercial or otherwise?

To be honest, due to this extra stop, I stopped using Air Malta a few years ago and now two other operators offer a decent alternative to Rome. However, I had the occasion to use this flight recently again and nothing has changed; it is still a useless stop. Most people I know feel the same way and, consequently, fly with other companies whenever possible.

This is a huge waste of money but also of revenue for Air Malta and cannot be doing any good to the airline. It is better for the aircraft to be used productively somewhere else and revert the Rome route to a direct service and attract passengers back on to this route.

Air Malta has managed to make Rome as far away from Malta as London! I cannot understand how addressing this route was not the first measure taken to reorganise the airline.