British Airways has ruled out franchising the Malta-London Gatwick route again and is to "find the best solution" for its local two-member team after effectively pulling out of Malta for the second time in 20 years.

The airline said several initiatives had been taken at corporate and local level to improve route profitability and daily flights were reduced to four per week in the first months of the summer season.

Earlier this year, British Airways closed its Valletta office under a worldwide cost rationalisation programme and relocated staff to Malta International Airport. "British Airways is to speak to them to work through the impact of the changes to its operation to find the best solution for them," the airline said.

Last week, BA announced it was suspending its Gatwick route from October 25 as it faced "one of the harshest trading environments of our history." It said the move was part of a company-wide review of routes.

The matter was not discussed with Maltese authorities as it was a "commercial decision driven by the poor performance of the route with no sign of short-term recovery."

BA did not disclose passenger numbers on the route, saying the information was "commercially sensitive".

Insisting it only operated profitable routes, BA will lose the slots at Gatwick and at Malta International Airport as soon as its service is suspended.

Efly, a new charter airline based in Malta, has applied to operate the Malta-Gatwick route. Air Malta is to increase its capacity on the Gatwick route from a daily service to nine weekly flights.

BA first flew from Malta as British European Airways in 1947. Services were terminated in 1989 before flights to London were resumed in May 1995 by BA franchise carrier GB Airways. The franchise was taken over by low-fare carrier Easyjet last year. BA's Gatwick route was resumed in March 2008. A short-term service to Manchester was also operated in 2007.