Fly Hermes, which cancelled all flights to and from Malta just a month after it started operations, has been grounded after its licence was suspended.

The decision was taken by the Maltese civil aviation authorities as the Sicilian-owned company is registered in Malta.

The government admitted yesterday the issue was damaging the island’s reputation, and Tourism Minister Zammit Lewis said the suspension of the licence was meant “to contain the damage” already done.

The airline, owned by a Sicilian family from Modica, was granted a licence by the Maltese civil aviation directorate at Transport Malta last December to start operating daily flights on a multi-city route including Malta, Comiso (Sicily), Torino and Palermo.

However, the new carrier, which owns just one aircraft, soon started encountering difficulties, with passengers complaining of massive delays and flight cancellations.

Earlier this month, Times of Malta reported that Fly Hermes had left passengers stranded for two days at Catania airport and that the Italian authorities were investigating. The company said it had cancelled some of flights due to a lack of bookings.

The fact that we took immediate action to suspend the licence shows that we are trying to contain the damage

When contacted, a Transport Malta spokesman said the civil aviation directorate had not received any complaints. He said that due diligence on the state of the company had taken place before an air operator certificate (licence) was issued.

Later, the Italian civil aviation authorities decided to start a full-blown investigation and, last week, the Maltese authorities decided to suspend the licence.

Civil aviation industry sources said yesterday: “This incident is causing a lot of damage to our aviation register at a time when Malta is trying to lure more airlines to register their planes with Transport Malta.”

When asked about this, Dr Zammit Lewis, who is responsible for the sector, admitted that the incident was damaging to Malta’s image abroad.

“However, the fact that we took immediate action to suspend the licence shows that we are trying to contain the damage,” he noted.

He also defended the civil aviation authorities, stating that their track record proved that, in general, they had done a good job. “Unfortunately, these situations [like Fly Hermes] do happen and we are following the situation closely.”

Asked whether what happened risked casting a shadow on the manner in which Transport Malta had conducted the due diligence process, Dr Zammit Lewis insisted that the aviation directorate had a good track record and abided by international practices. “Obviously, these incidents should be avoided,” he said.

Although all flights have been suspended, a spokeswoman for Fly Hermes ruled out that the company would be folding. “We plan to start services from Malta again in April,” she said.

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