Air Malta was not growing and would soon be absorbed by larger carriers, Ryanair’s chief commercial officer David O’Brien said this afternoon.

Asked for his views about the competitor airline during a news conference held to celebrate his carrier’s 30th anniversary of operations, Mr O’Brien said flag carriers were vanishing and this could be an inevitable course of events.

An airline, he said, needed to grow and he was not seeing Air Malta doing that.

He said he believed Air Malta would be absorbed by larger carriers and vanish. This, he said, was a pity because Air Malta was a good competitor to have.

During the news conference, Ryanair announced record bookings on its Malta summer 2015 schedule, which includes a new route to East Midlands and extra flights to Bari, Bournemouth, Dublin, Gothenburg, Luton, Madrid, Milan, Stockholm and Venice.

These flights, the airline said, deliver more than 1.1 million customers per annum and support 1,100 on site jobs at Malta International Airport.

The airline also announced a seat sale with 30 per cent off fares for travel in March and April. The discounted seats are available for booking until midnight tomorrow.

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