Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi. Photo: Chris Sant FournierTourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said on Monday Air Malta had only cancelled “a few flights”, adding such cancellations compared very well with other carriers.
He warned against creating “an unnecessary media hype” about the problems affecting the airline’s operations.
Addressing Parliament, which was discussing the Malta Tourism Authority’s financial estimates, Dr Mizzi said that Air Malta’s new direction towards revenue growth was built upon the cost-cutting exercise that had preceded it. The airline was “here to stay”, he insisted.
“Only a few flights” had been affected by scheduling issues, which were proportionally few compared to the large number of flights operated by the airline each week, he noted. The minister attributed the situation to efforts to increase plane utilisation, which had reached a daily average of 13 to 14 hours during the summer months.
He defended the airline’s decision to cancel and delay flights, which, he said, was the result of increased operations.
The planes in the fleet needed to be replaced, the minister said, and a new fuel-efficient Airbus was expected to be delivered to the national carrier this week. The airline carried 43 per cent more passengers this May 2018 when compared to a year ago and would be operating an additional 6,600 flights in 2018. The airline was also planning to take on more flight crew, now that its staff members were working to the limit of international flight-time regulations.
While issues exist, let’s not create unnecessary media hype on the matter
“We took short-term measures. We apologise for the inconvenience. They were only a few flights. I looked at the statistics and interruptions compare very well to other airlines. While issues exist, let’s not create unnecessary media hype on the matter,” he said.
His comment came just hours after the airline’s chief operating officer, Paul Sies, described newspapers as “the wrapping of tomorrow’s fish and chips”.
Dr Mizzi said the company’s new objective was to become the new “airline of the Mediterranean” servicing other small islands and connecting North Africa with Europe.
Opposition MP Robert Arrigo said hundreds, if not thousands, of travellers were missing their flights each weekend or having to travel on wet-leased planes that often did not meet Air Malta’s standards and which were manned by foreign crews.
As a result of the disruption, many Maltese were also concerned about missing business appointments or connecting flights. These factors sent worrying messages about the national airline, he said.
Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami called on the minister to give an account how much the disruptions would cost Air Malta.