So why is government claiming that the airline has long been making a loss?

Take, for instance the last audited accounts of the airline which have been published: that for 2002.

The audited accounts say the airline made a small profit of Lm109, 000.

But let us look closer at the figures.

Note 39 states that among the income, the money derived from leasing aircraft to AzzurraAir got the airline Lm7.8 million.

On the expenditure side, the depreciation of the aircraft, as listed on page 64, amounted to Lm4.07 million.

This means that the company made a real loss of Lm3.712 million rather than an operating profit of Lm109,000.

The above does not imply there is something fishy with the accounts. On the contrary, the accounts have been drawn up by a reputable firm and signed by another reputable firm. But all accounts need looking into and right interpreting.

If one removes the leasing component from the airline, one is thus left with a meagre Lm508,000 loss in 1999 to 2000; Lm4.4 million in 2000 to 2001, Lm3.72 million in 2001 to 2002 and around Lm8.8 in 2002 to 2003.

Aircraft leasing is now out for Air Malta so its employees must come out with suggestions how the core operations of the local airline can be made any better.