It is not just hoteliers that may be wondering whether Air Malta is giving up its role as a national carrier. Also doubting the airline’s future are businessmen and industrialists as well as people who have, for years, preferred using the national carrier to other airlines. However, for it to remain a national carrier, Air Malta must be run profitably and. in today’s cutthroat competition. this is easier said than done for any airline, let alone a very small one.

In the same way that much stronger airlines have had to join forces with other operators, Air Malta needs to find the right strategic partner to keep flying. The big question is: which carrier is prepared to take on Air Malta? Hardly anyone would expect an operator to take the risk without ensuring the airline is restructured in a way that would enable it to run efficiently and profitably. This could involve changes in operations that may not satisfy the commercial needs of all its clients, not to mention, of course, the likely impact on the workforce.

Although there has been much public discussion in recent months about the government’s plans to strike a strategic partnership with Alitalia, the future remains unclear. Have the talks failed altogether or are they stalled? The airline’s decision to drop the Frankfurt and Manchester routes may have set alarm bells ringing but what many find even more worrying and hard to understand is why Air Malta should strike up a partnership with an airline that is losing half a million euros a day.

Alitalia has just had to secure a fresh financial deal in yet another attempt to turn the situation around and a new business plan has just been drawn up. The fact is, however, that not even Etihad, the Abu Dhabi-based airline that has a 49 per cent stake in Alitalia, has been able so far to stem the Italian carrier’s losses. In 2014, Etihad invested €560 million in Alitalia as part of a wider €1.76 billion rescue deal.

Alitalia now says it needs to overhaul its business model by developing its long-haul network, reshaping its short- and medium-range business, cut costs and jobs and go into commercial agreements and partnerships. Perhaps one of the partnerships still on its radar screen is that with Air Malta but the parameters do not appear all that encouraging.

Also to be taken into the equation are the implications, if any, of a recent statement made by Etihad that it is reviewing its strategy of investing in European airlines. Etihad took up stakes in Air Berlin, Alitalia and Air Serbia to expand its European network but its plan did not work as well as it had expected, to put it mildly. Etihad, too, is cutting jobs.

So, in the light of all this and, also, of the fact that Air Malta is now no longer eligible to receive further rescue or restructuring aid, where is the airline heading to? Is there a silver lining anywhere or did the government drag its feet for far too long before looking for a strategic partnership for the airline?

Perhaps the most important question at this stage is: would Alitalia be the right partner for Air Malta?

Rescuing Air Malta is more a question of ensuring reliable links to key destinations for the sake of the well-being of the country’s economy than a matter of pride, though many would still wish to see the airline’s colours continue flying high.