Air Malta managed to break even between April and June 2017 – for the first time in around 10 years, according to leaked details from the accounts obtained by the Times of Malta.

The airline has not yet published its audited accounts for the year ended March 2016, let alone for the year ended March 2017 – with sources saying that this was due to the fact that they could have influenced negotiations for the sale of the airline.

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A source said that the real issue was trying to fly below the radar of the European Commission and other stakeholders, walking a tightrope between appeasing suppliers and unions, and making the airline viable enough to attract investors.

However, even though negotiations with Alitalia have since been called off, the airline has not yet submitted its accounts. It has been stated in Parliament on a few occasions that the losses were reduced from €78 million, when the airline entered its restructuring plan in 2012, to €4.2 million.

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In the first three months of its financial year, the company managed to bring its losses down to €0.4 million, virtually breaking even.

In 2012, the airline bound itself to embark on the road to long-term viability after the European Commission decided a €130 million government injection did not breach its state aid rules.

The financial year from 2016 to 2017 was not kind to Air Malta, which lost €11 million due to a fuel hedge which had been in place for over three years.

This undermined the work done to restructure the airline, from reducing the number of planes and routes and selling assets to reviewing the catering provided on the plane.

However, in the first three months of its financial year, the company managed to bring its losses down to €0.4 million, virtually breaking even.

Its board was appointed recently following the June election, with chairman Maria Micallef replaced by Charles Mangion.

Mr Mangion said in a recent interview with the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry that he would not revive the attempt to find a strategic partner for the airline until it had returned to profitability.

One of the first decisions of the new board was to re-introduce the Frankfurt route and increase the number of aircraft to nine.