A Bulgarian travel agent is considering dropping Air Malta because she says its fares on the Malta-Sofia route are far too expensive.
Mariana Ohridska pointed out that a return flight to Sofia cost almost twice as much as a week's stay on half board basis at an average four-star hotel.
Ms Ohridska, who operates from Malta and concentrates mainly on bringing over Bulgarian students to study English, says the cost to send students to the UK is far lower, with a flight costing just €25.
Ms Ohridska said the direct flight operated by Air Malta to Sofia cost between €270 and €320, increasing substantially in the summer months.
She insisted that if Air Malta were to lower its fares, flights on the route would not be two-thirds empty as they were on a regular basis.
But a spokesman for the national carrier said Air Malta offered competitive fares for the service, which operated from Malta twice a week. There were offers of €99 return for travel in the November/December 2010 period.
He explained that Air Malta fares, including to and from Sofia, varied for a number of reasons including demand, market type, dates of travel and competition, among others. Fares could change any time and one offered today "would probably be more expensive the next day".
Ms Ohridska said that when compared to fares offered by other airlines, Bulgarians had no incentive to choose Air Malta. Bulgarians could fly Ryanair to Venice, spend a day and night there and then fly to Malta.
The price, including the overnight stay, turned out to be much cheaper than the fare for the Air Malta flight, she said. A Lufthansa flight to Malta, with a stopover in Frankfurt, also cost far less, she insisted.
With regard to the study of English, Ms Ohridska believes Bulgarian students prefer the standard of teaching in Malta as opposed to that in the UK, saying the island offers more attention and a personalised approach.
"Bulgaria is a poor country and, although parents are willing to make an extra effort to send their kids to learn English, Malta is far too expensive for them, mostly because of the flight. The prices of courses in Malta are pretty reasonable. If the flight were not so expensive, there would be much more interest in Malta," she said.
Ms Ohridska said her company, Marianna Company Ltd, promoted Malta at specialised fairs in Bulgaria and also through her website www.welcome-to-malta.com.