When I am overseas and I decide to use public transport I always find that the best way to reach my destination is to ask the local staff at the relevant ticket office of the company providing the service.

However, in Malta this does not seem to be the case, well, at least, as far as Arriva ticket staff members are concerned. On March 29, at 11am, I was at the airport trying to gather information regarding bus travel to Swatar. I went to the Arriva counter in the arrivals’ hall and asked the staff member on duty if I could have the timetable relevant to Swatar. I was asked by him to provide the bus route number and I replied that I had no idea what route buses went to Swatar. The employee then replied that he could not help seeing that he dealt only with transport from the airport (X buses). I asked him to check on his computer (assuming that he would have one at the airport which could provide all the necessary information on the Arriva network). In a rather brash and arrogant way he informed me that he did not have a computer.

His only job was to issue tickets for passengers leaving from Malta International Airport. How amiss of Arriva to presume that incoming passengers leaving from the airport would only need to travel on the X buses routes.

As I was moving away from the Arriva counter, right in front of it I noticed a rack containing leaflets displaying various timetables. After sifting through these I did manage to find one relevant to the Swatar route.

When I pointed this out to the Arriva employee at the counter, he mumbled a few incomprehensible words. It is, of course, very evident that this particular member of staff was unwilling to be helpful to the public.

Should an Arriva employee such as this person be one of the first people a tourist could come in contact with on his/her arrival in Malta?

He is likely to give a very bad impression to both the local public and tourists alike.