Air Malta will be absorbed by larger carriers and “vanish”, Ryanair’s chief commercial officer David O’Brien has predicted.
Asked about his views on the future of the troubled airline, Mr O’Brien said that the tendency was for national flag carriers to become feeders for larger carriers.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful to other companies,” Mr O’Brien told Times of Malta. “We haven’t looked very closely at what [Air Malta] do. But I think that in the aviation game, if you’re not growing, you’re in trouble and if you’re not reducing your costs, you’re also in trouble. I don’t see Air Malta doing either.
“A lot of the routes operated out of Malta by the legacy carriers tend to be to major airport hubs.
“The tendency has been for flag carriers to become absorbed into some of the big hub-and-spoke carriers such as Lufthansa.”
When the Hungarian flag-carrier airline Malev collapsed in 2012, Ryanair capitalised by announcing what it called “a rescue plan for Budapest and Hungarian tourism”, establishing a new base in Budapest and opening 31 new routes.
Does the company plan to do the same if Air Malta shuts down?
“Malev left a big gap in Hungary. But as evidenced from Cyprus Airways, our reaction is pretty obvious. No, we have no back pocket to replace Air Malta. We think Air Malta is a great competitor, as is Alitalia.” Mr O’Brien was speaking at a press conference celebrating Ryanair’s 30th birthday. He announced record bookings on Ryanair’s Malta summer 2015 schedule, which includes a new route to the East Midlands and extra flights to Bari, Bournemouth, Dublin, Gothenburg, Luton, Madrid, Milan, Stockholm and Venice.
Customers can now enjoy allocated seating, a free second carry-on bag, a new boarding passes app and new Family Extra and Business Plus services. Ryanair is now Europe’s biggest airline, carrying 90 million people annually between 30 countries.
In Malta, Ryanair is the second most popular airline after Air Malta and ahead of easyJet. It carries 1.1 million passengers to and from Malta per year, provides 1,100 jobs and saves Maltese customers €13 million yearly compared to the cost of other airlines.
“The key is giving people what they want. Airlines have declared that passengers want food. But our 90 million passengers have told us that they don’t want food on an airline.” Ryanair’s plan is to continue to grow in Malta. Over the next 10 years, the airline is expecting to cater for 70 million extra passengers globally.
“There’s no reason why a share of that should not go to Malta.”
To celebrate its 30th birthday, Ryanair has launched a seat sale, with 30 per cent off fares. March and April flights to Bari, Girona, Pisa and Trapani cost €12.59 if booked today until midnight.