Air Malta passengers travelling to and from Vienna on Thursday were surprised to find that the plane they were to board was one usually used by the Italian postal service rather than an Air Malta Airbus.

Passengers complained to Times of Malta that the aircraft being wet-leased by Air Malta were “less comfortable” than those forming part of the airline's fleet.

“Once we pay, and quite substantial amounts of money, to travel Air Malta, we expect to find an Air Malta plane and crew and not whatever aircraft the airline manages to lease to solve its day-to-day [capacity] crises,” a frequent passenger said.

Air Malta informed passengers in a letter delivered by hand at the check-in counter that due to “operational reasons”, the airline had to “lease this aircraft or cancel your flight”.

Air Malta's alternative was for passengers to be several hours stranded at the airport

Informing them they were flying on a Mistral Air plane instead of an Air Malta Airbus, the letter said passengers who “prefer not to travel on this service” would be helped by a staff member to rebook “on an alternative Air Malta-operated flight to the same destination, subject to availability”.

A passenger said that “this was the biggest joke, as the alternative was several hours stranded at the airport”.

Air Malta has had to operate flights using leased aircraft following a decision by the government and the company's board to reduce its fleet from 10 to eight planes.

One of the passengers on board the Poste Italiane aircraft – owned by Mistral – yesterday commented sarcastically that, on their return to Malta, their aircraft was parked next to a DHL plane, which operates a daily flight carrying bulk mail.