There is a huge opportunity for Maltese business interests in Libya, according to Malta International Airport chief executive officer Markus Klaushofer, who compared the situation in North Africa to when the Iron Curtain came down in Eastern Europe.
Malta has so much potential and I believe Valletta is the crown jewel of the Mediterranean
Interviewed by The Times Business, Mr Klaushofer said: “When I look at the situation in North Africa I am reminded of what it was like in Austria, where I am from, when the Iron Curtain went down. So I see huge potential for Malta in Libya. The Maltese understand they can become a hub between Europe and North Africa. I believe that in one or two years Libya will stabilise and there will be huge potential for business.
“Many companies will look for a place to base their business, not far away from the region, which is in the European Union, and which understands the Libyan mentality. For example, we are at the moment trying to promote the MIA SkyParks Business Centre to companies operating in Libya.”
Last year MIA registered 3.5 million passenger movements, a 6.5 per cent increase in passengers. In January MIA had forecast that passenger numbers for 2012 will be 2.8 per cent lower than those registered in 2011 but will still be three per cent above the previous record achieved in 2010. Is MIA sticking to this forecast and how will the European economic climate influence MIA’s performance this year?
“The whole European economic climate is crucial for us. When you look at major markets such as the UK and Italy, there has been a decrease in GDP, but Germany, Austria and the Netherlands are doing quite well and there has been quite a bit of focus there. We have just returned from a trip to London and the Berlin ITB travel trade show. The UK is still our largest market – which is why we expect a slight decrease – but let’s just look ahead. I hope the problems with Greece will be sorted out, I think they are on the right track now and so is Italy, so I hope we will see some recovery. However, I don’t think we will break the record year of 2010. We expect a small decrease, which is not that bad for us,” he says.
Mr Klaushofer MIA has been very focused on costs and also on getting new business and revenue streams. He says MIA equity edged 1.8 per cent higher during 2011, a difficult year for many companies, to end the year at a price of €1.69. He adds: “It is true that there are not too many shares traded here in Malta, but we are very proud of our stable share price.”
The MIA SkyParks Business Centre should be completed by mid-summer and 60 per cent of the space has already been rented out, he says.
“The diversification of our revenue stream – food courts, shops, parking – has done well. I have been very impressed, I come from a town with an airport but I have never gone to an airport on the weekend and seen the food court full of people, which is great. So this is certainly one thing we are focused on. This diversification is definitely something we will continue to develop over the next years.”
He points out that the MIA SkyParks Business Centre has no “typical client” but tenants there “are in a town, there are the shops, many of which open 24/7”. He adds: “The building has many advantages, it has a childcare centre, banks, and an IT store. The idea is to make life easier for the tenants. We have aviation companies, IT companies, consultancy companies, so it’s a bit of a mix.”
Asked if the company was being kept informed about the situation at Air Malta he says that MIA has had various meetings with Air Malta representatives where the present state of affairs was discussed.
“Of course a restructuring exercise is never easy. However, Air Malta is absolutely crucial for Malta. In other countries you can travel by bus, car or train, but in Malta we have to fly out of the country. Air Malta is a very important partner for MIA and I believe the airline will make it.”
Does MIA actually go out and seek airlines to fly to Malta?
“We have just returned from the ITB in Berlin, and we have a very close co-operation with the Malta Tourism Authority. Whenever we need some help this is always forthcoming from the MTA, which has proven to be very flexible. We have to go out and sell Malta and we recently sponsored the reception at Harrods as part of the ‘This is Malta’ campaign.
“Malta has so much potential and I believe Valletta is the crown jewel of the Mediterranean. Find me another nice old city which is next to the sea. Together with MTA we target a number of markets where we believe there can be growth. A case in point is Spain which increased from 15,000 passengers to 60,000. We are also focusing on Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, for example.”
Malta Airport has once again ranked as the top airport in Europe across all categories for 2011 in the annual ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passenger survey. This follows a similar ranking achieved in 2010. Mr Klaushofer says that image wise such awards are very important and the first thing passengers see when arriving in Malta is the airport.
“This first impression is really very important. When people arrive from Vienna the first thing they see is palm trees and olive trees and they are very impressed. They immediately get into a holiday mood. It’s not easy to get the award for two years in a row, but we did and we are very happy about that.”
Regarding other projects in the pipeline at MIA the CEO says the company first wants to complete the SkyParks Business Centre, “but we do have some ideas which we need to discuss within the board. In general we want to diversify more,” he stresses.