The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) said today that it was important for Maltese tourism that Air Malta remained in Maltese hands, even if shares in the airline were sold.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported yesterday that the airline is in talks with Turkish Airlines on a strategic partnership which could see a partial or total takeover of the Maltese airline.

The MHRA said Air Malta was a key factor in the success of Malta's tourism industry.

"It is clear that the market conditions for Air Malta have become increasingly challenging. The options are not many and these call for the implementation of specific measures which will definitely change the name of the game at Air Malta.

“The tourism industry expects and will keep supporting Air Malta management in taking the necessary decisions to ensure that our national airline keeps flying.”

MHRA president Tony Zahra said it was critical that Air Malta retained Maltese interests and should not be wholly sold off to a foreign entity, be it an airline or an investor. A hybrid investor arrangement could also be a solution as long as Maltese interests retained control.

The association called upon the government to consider adopting the BOV model as a solution. This means that whilst Government retained a minority interest, say 25 per cent, the other 75 per cent could be sold to Maltese investors and thus bring in commercial interests and management.

Tony Zahra President of MHRA said that "losing control to foreign interests of Air Malta that still produces just under 50 per cent of the passengers to Malta, and the major transporter of air cargo to the island would effectively hand over the destiny of our most important industry to non-Maltese. That is something which MHRA cannot support."