Air Malta workers remain in the dark over their future despite persistent reports that the government has ditched a proposed deal with Alitalia.

General Workers’ Union general secretary Josef Bugeja said the union had not been informed of any decision by the government to stop talks with Alitalia for the sale of a 49 per cent stake in Air Malta.

“We have heard nothing, and in the last official communication in December, we were told talks are still ongoing,” Mr Bugeja said when contacted yesterday.

MaltaToday yesterday quoted unnamed sources saying the government had “pulled the plug” on talks with Alitalia, claiming the deal was “dead”. The report follows that which appeared last October in the Times of Malta, which quoted sources within the civil aviation industry saying the government was expected to give up on the deal.

We know absolutely nothing

Pilots were also in the dark about the matter, according to Domenic Azzopardi, president of the Airline Pilots Association.

“Just because MaltaToday said it is official, it is not official at all. We are totally in the dark on the talks, so I wouldn’t know whether they’re concluded or if they fell through. We know absolutely nothing.”

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis, who just a few weeks ago insisted that talks with the Italian carrier were ongoing, said when contacted that he had nothing to add.

Mr Zammit Lewis was quoted by MaltaToday saying that no deal would be signed unless it was beneficial to the airline, the tourism industry and the economy. These are the same words Dr Zammit Lewis has been repeating for months on end.

Sources within the airline industry have long told the Times of Malta that Alitalia was not the ideal strategic partner to save Air Malta, since the Italian carrier needed saving itself. They insisted the government was wasting time by sticking to the talks.

According a memorandum of understanding signed in April last year, Air Malta and the government are precluded from negotiating with other strategic partners before terminating their dealings with Alitalia.

A fortnight ago, the Italian government had to intervene to give Alitalia a 60-day lifeline through about €200 million in loans by two banks, which also have a stake in the air carrier.

Intesa San Paolo and Unicredit said they had agreed to grant Alitalia short-term financing on the condition a new industrial plan was in place by the end of February.

Alitalia CEO Cramer Ball, who signed the memorandum of understanding with Air Malta, said decisions on crucial cost-cutting measures would be made in January.

Meanwhile, Air Malta has not yet published its accounts for the financial year ending March 2016, having postponed its annual general meeting.

Matthew Xuereb and Ivan Martin also contributed to this report.