Louis Farrugia has been appointed Air Malta's new chairman.

In a statement this evening, the Prime Minister thanked outgoing chairman Sonny Portelli on behalf of the government "for the difficult and important work he has carried out in the formulation of Air Malta’s restructuring plan and in providing leadership for the company during extremely difficult and turbulent times".

He said he accepted Mr. Portelli’s desire to dedicate more time to his chairmanship of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development. 

Mr Portelli, whose term has expired, requested not to be reappointed.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech praised M. Portelli" for his dedication to Air Malta and welcomed Mr Farrugia who, with his long standing experience, can contribute to Air Malta's future and success".

Following the appointment of the new CEO Peter Davies, and the submission of Air Malta’s Restructuring Plan to the EU, it shall now be the responsibility of the chief executive as well as the board led by Mr Farrugia to continue with the implementation of the restructuring plan, which aims to lead the company back to profitability.

Mr Farrugia moves to Air Malta from the Malta Tourism Authority, bringing with him a lifelong experience in the private sector and in public appointments.

He is the Chairman of the Group Executive Board of Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Multigas Ltd, Liquigas Malta Ltd and Farrugia Investments Ltd. 

Mr Farrugia has served on a number of government boards, is a member and past president of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and served as a non-executive director of HSBC Bank Malta plc for fouryears.  He is also a director of the Commonwealth Business Council.

Air Malta yesterday said it had appointed Ray Hart as Chief Restructuring Officer of the airline. He will be working under the direction of recently-appointed CEO Peter Davies.