Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis this evening did not confirm reports mentioned by Opposition Deputy Leader Mario de Marco that Air Malta’s fleet, currently operating 10 aircraft with two others leased out, would be further downsized to eight in the summer and seven in the winter.

The minister said current plans were for Air Malta to review its route network, and consequently fleet requirements, with an attentive eye to the needs of Malta’s tourism sector. Some routes were not commercially viable but were nonetheless important to the country’s tourism.

He told Claudio Grech (PN) it made sense for the national airline’s chairperson to tell the workforce what was already happening. She was keeping communications open with the workforce and telling them about the challenges that even other European airlines, not just Air Malta, were facing.

Dr Zammit Lewis said the situation was “a little more complex” than opposition MPs were making it out to be. The restructuring programme by which airline and government were bound stipulated a smaller route network. The process also depended on the number of scheduled and charter flights to be operated.

The government not only wanted to maintain Air Malta’s seat capacity, now at 43 per cent of the whole, but was continuously welcoming new airlines onto the Malta route.

Asked directly by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi whether he could exclude a downsizing of the fleet, the minister said he could not give guarantees.