Flight disruptions to and from Malta could persist this week before the national airline accepts delivery of a brand new plane at the end of the week.

Air Malta’s chief commercial officer, Paul Sies, admitted in a leaked internal message to staff that although alternative arrangements had been made, not all flights were catered for. (Read the memo in full below)

He hoped, however, that the airline could operate “normally” until it took delivery of the new aircraft during the weekend.

He also took the opportunity to take a dig at the media, which is reporting on the airline’s woes: “My father was a journalist and always told me: the newspaper of today is the wrapping of fish and chips tomorrow.”

It was not clear whether he thinks that the disruption of today would be the reputational damage of tomorrow. 

Mr Sies said it had not been an easy weekend and thanked the staff for making the effort to reduce the impact on passengers as much as possible.

The airline has been gripped by a number of cancelled and delayed flights as it struggles to operate increased routes with fewer planes and reduced staff, forcing it to take decisions based on “operational restrictions”.

On Friday, the airline cancelled a flight from Frankfurt and another to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on Saturday “due to operational restrictions and a strike in Italy”. Moreover, flights to Palermo and Catania on Friday were delayed, while two flights on Saturday to Paris Orly were merged.

Yesterday, several Air Malta flights were delayed and two were cancelled, but in his message to staff members, Mr Sies said there was “good news” for the coming days.

“Good news is that the coming days are sorted and looks [like] we can operate normally. End of the week, the NEO [airplane] should enter the fleet, bringing it up to the full 10 aircraft we need.” Mr Sies once again thanked the staff for going out of their way to minimise the impact on passengers. “Let’s help passengers where we can and push on positively,” he stressed.

Air Malta did not respond to a request by the Times of Malta for more information on the cause of the delays, nor did it explain Mr Sies’s reference to newspapers being used as the wrapping for fish and chips.

Mr Sies made an unprecedented public announcement through social media last week, asking companies through LinkedIn to provide an air plane.