Neil Rough, Isle of Man, UK
Early flight to Manchester
I recently booked, online, a return so-called “low-cost” flight with an airline that has a monopoly from Isle of Man to Manchester (to connect with my Air Malta flight) and this is their fare calculation:
Outward: fare £1.86; taxes and charges £30.70; seats £6; bags £12.99. Return: fare £1.86; taxes and charges £31.57; seats £6; bags £12.99. The total, including fuel recovery of £6 plus a £9 transaction charge and credit card supplement of £1, equalled £113.97 for a 30-40 minute flight.
Air Malta is still one of the best national airlines on this planet, so do not lose them. We lost our local national airline and are still suffering because this particular “low-cost” airline is based off the Isle of Man; some other airlines are based locally as well but on limited routes. Because I can book well in advance, the cost of my scheduled Air Malta Manchester/Malta return flight has usually been between £125 and £140 over 62 visits in the past 32 years.
All this present uncertainty is surely losing Malta visitors – business and private – who will now consider taking their business elsewhere.
Even I was loathe to book for next Easter (I am already booked to return in 10 days’ time for Christmas and New Year) because of the almost impossible timetable for Manchester flights. I now have to pay for an overnight stay in Manchester at a cost of £80 or more, which means coming to Malta is even more expensive than ever.
How about reinstating at least one early/mid-morning flight every week from Malta to Manchester, please? Manchester now serves a large catchment area including Scotland and onward travel is essential.
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Adrian Sacco
Dec 11th 2011, 16:12
I regularly shuttle between Malta and the Isle of Man (which is not part of the UK, as I am sure Mr Rough knows, so I can only attribute that error to the ToM).
I too remember fondly the excellent service provided by Manx Airlines - but at what price! Ten years ago a return flight between IoM-London, booked at a week's notice, was circa GBP300, while a return between Malta-London with AirMalta came in at circa GBP200. I'm no fan of the "budget" airlines, but they have reduced what used to be one of the biggest costs of my business and personal life to a much more palatable level. The likes of AirMalta will have to compete if they are to survive.
And to Mr Rough - I've found that using Easyjet for both legs of the journey, via Liverpool, seems to offer the best value, although an overnight stay in the north of England is unavoidable on the IoM to Malta trip.
Bill Hopkinson
Dec 10th 2011, 15:48
Manchester indeed. My wife and I have travelled to the UK via Manchester two or three times a year for the past 20 years using Air Malta. Not so this year because of Air Malta's poor and inconvenient time slots for Manchester. We know several people on Gozo who have also abandoned Air Malta for the same reason as ourselves. Anyone wanting to visit North Wales would be well advised to take advantage of Easyjets convenient flight time to Manchester.
Mr Tony Gatt
Dec 10th 2011, 17:22
We have recently used Easyjet flights from Liverpool to Malta and find them well-run and reasonably priced.
also Liverpool is very handy for anyone wishing to visit North Wales.
Paul Kew
Dec 10th 2011, 10:30
If my memory serves me right Air Malta has a Sunday morning flight.
Neil Rough
Dec 11th 2011, 11:53
There is now no early morning flight to Manchester on any day of the week - it used to be Sunday