Subsidised Air Malta flights for the June 3 general election cost taxpayers an average of €852 each, more than double the standard fare, according to data released by the Electoral Commission.

It transpired that 1,717 voters living abroad, mostly in Brussels and the United Kingdom, used the scheme, under which they were offered flights at just €90. Malta’s electoral laws do not allow voters living abroad to cast their ballots in a foreign country.

According to a report just published by the Electoral Commission, the bill for the subsidised flights operated by the national carrier was €1.75 million. Apart from the voters themselves, the scheme also covered their dependents, 335 of them, bringing the overall number flown to Malta to 2,052.

Thus the average cost incurred by each taxpayer to subsidise the flights was €852.

However, when Times of Malta looked at the Air Malta website to check the fares of return flights from Brussels and London, the amount was found to be much lower.

For Brussels, fares were as low as €75 for flights in mid-November. They were €270 for London.

Questions sent to Air Malta had still not been answered at the time of writing.

The Times of Malta reported last August that this one-time revenue stream was crucial for the national carrier to break even for the period between April and June for the first time in 10 years.

Sources close to Air Malta said it was an open secret that subsidised election flights were vital for the national airline to stay afloat. They pointed out that while passengers paid €90, the government paid the airline the full price of the seat, so Air Malta profited about €200 with every passenger.

This, they noted, contributed to an extra revenue stream of €400,000 in the second quarter of the year – enough to balance the books.