I have been a loyal customer of Malta’s national airline, Air Malta, for the last 16 years.

Over time, the little luxuries that made it so superior to other airlines, such as complimentary meals, alcohol, other drinks and newspapers, were eliminated from the economy section of the airplane. The new regime, with a bottle of water and a bread roll, is a poor substitute.

Nonetheless, the service on Air Malta, the flight timings and the truly excellent and resilient staff still make it far preferable to what is on offer from other so-called ‘low-cost’ airlines, such as the in fact expensive Ryanair.

However, matters seem to be escalating in the wrong direction.

The latest unacceptable occurrence is that the flight I booked months ago, Gatwick to Malta, on Wednesday, January 20, has been cancelled with absolutely no explanation.

It is true I was able to rebook for a day earlier but this is most inconvenient and should have been offered with some sort of compensation.

I would also like to point out that on the flight from Malta to Gatwick on December 20, the number of passengers was just 50 on an aircraft that can take 160 and this in the high season of Christmas.

I understand that other flights to London, both to Heathrow and Gatwick in that timescale, were similarly low in passenger numbers.

So what is happening to Air Malta and what does the future hold? It would seem that the way forward is for the airline to be joined to another airline. Let us hope that future plansdo not include the possibility of China owning Air Malta.

That would be a tragedy.