Attracting airlines to service the low-cost routes on offer has proven to be an uphill struggle given the prevailing scenario, Malta Tourism Authority chairman Sam Mifsud said.

"Nobody is opening new routes", Mr Mifsud said, quoting as example EasyJet's plan to only consolidate existing ones and, maybe, even close some.

Today the government will find out how successful it was in its talks with "every single airline in Europe" as the deadline for bids to operate such routes expires..

The deadline was extended by two weeks in order to continue negotiations with various airlines, Mr Mifsud said. He was unwilling to take it for granted that they have actually placed their bids in the box.

"Today they say yes and tomorrow, they say no," he remarked.

He would only say that airlines did show "some sort of interest" to operate to Malta, expressing the hope that most of the three routes - Newcastle, Bristol and Leeds Bradford - would be taken up.

"The closing of the call for bids would not have been extended by two weeks if we were not optimistic," he said.

The falling price of fuel is a plus but the value of the sterling is turning into a major headache and airlines need to assess the demand for travel.

Mr Mifsud said he is determined to keep on "knocking on doors" if today's deadline does not yield the desired results and despite the fact that "there is not one single European airline the government has not spoken to".

The government offered the three UK routes at the end of October to make up for the drop in capacity from the UK. If they are taken up, the airlines would start operating in summer.

In view of bleak future prospects, the president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, Kevin De Cesare had urgently called on the government to invest in opening more routes and increasing flight capacity, particularly in the light of an estimated 3.5 per cent drop in the number of available seats for winter.