Travel agents and businessmen are all in favour of establishing direct flights to China but stress the need to overhaul the visa application process if the venture is to succeed.

The possibility of having direct flights was raised by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during his recent trip to China. Though few details were given, Dr Muscat ruled out the Chinese capital as a destination, saying that talks were being held with provincial governments.

Iain Tonna, president of the Federated Association of Travel and Tourism Agents, welcomed the development, pointing out that weekly flights would probably be enough for a start since people making long-haul flights would normally spend more than a week abroad.

A gateway city such as Shanghai would be ideal as this was a main Chinese hub. However, he argued that the move would not be financially viable under the present visa regime.

The Prime Minister himself acknowledged that the 10 days it was taking Malta to issue visas to Chinese people could be putting travellers off. In France, for instance the process takes just 48 hours.

Kevin Borg, director general of the Chamber of Commerce said a direct China flight would address a major stumbling block to a flourishing business between the two countries.

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