The government is seeking EU approval for a capital injection of 78 million euros into Air Malta.
Speaking during the presentation of the Air Malta annual report and consolidated financial statements for the year ending last March, chairman Louis Farrugia said the government also wanted to convert the 52 million euros rescue loan given to the airline into share capital.
Mr Farrugia said that some form of opinion from Brussels was expected next week. The investment is scheduled over a four-year period.
Air Malta made an operating loss of 33.9 million euros in the year ending March 2011, 57 per cent more than in the previous year. However, figures for April to September were encouraging since the operating loss was down from 15 million euros in the same period in 2010 to 9 million euros.
This loss was made because of higher fuel costs. The idea, Mr Farrugia said, was to have the company breaking even by 2014 and registering a profit by 2015.
He said that to date, the airline has received 370 applications for voluntary or early retirement schemes while another 60 employees applied for government jobs. This was in line with what the company had been expecting.
Mr Farrugia also announced that that the airline will be selling its property to the government for 66.2 million euros. The promise of sale was signed in December and the first downpayment of 20 million euros was received this month.
The property sale covers all the head office footprint apart from a small area near the old terminal where Air Malta will eventually build new offices. In the meantimes, the airline will be seeking office space and it was considering various options, including at Skyparks.
Selmun is excluded from the property sale.
Asked whether the country could afford this investment in Air Malta, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said that it could since the airline was of strategic importance for the Maltese economy. Sacrifices had to be made but the figures presented had been incorporated into the government's projections of the country's finances presented to the EU for review.
When the chief officers were asked whether they were ready to reveal their pay packages, Mr Farrugia said this was commercially sensitive information.
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