It is not a big issue that Air Malta is rationalising its fleet and seeking to utilise it to the maximum as this was what other profitable airlines have been doing for the past 15 years, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said.

Replying to a Parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, he said leasing two aircraft which could not be fully utilised cost €1 million a year.

Dr Azzopardi had sought the minister’s assurance that the proposed fleet downsizing would not lead to a drop in arrivals. The minister replied that if anything, the number of winter routes and seat capacities were expected to increase.

Dr Zammit Lewis told Anthony Agius Decelis (PL) that Air Malta was currently the main player in Malta’s tourism responsible for 43 per cent of arrivals. But the government was forging ahead with diversification of source markets.

Such diversification, including operations by legacy airlines, was ensuring that Malta did not become dependent on low-cost airlines.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.