Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis was in Turkey earlier this week, however did not hold discussions with Turkish Airlines, he told The Malta Independent.

“I went on government work to discuss, along with Transport Minister Joe Mizzi, various themes with Turkey. We have tourism relations, relations related to aviation as well as relations related to transport,” he said.

He chose not to specify what the meetings were about when pressed and did not say whether discussions dealt particularly with Air Malta.

“We are working hard for the Air Malta situation to improve from how we found it. Obviously it does not only depend on us, but also on the other party”.

He went on to make a rather interesting statement. “Independently of a strategic partner or not, we will make the changes needed for Air Malta to become a commercially viable airline”.

Asked whether Etihad and Turkish Airlines are still contenders, he said “that’s speculation and there are certain commercial sensitivities I must respect. Later on down the line, when everything is agreed upon, I have no problem making things public”.

Turkish Airlines and Etihad have both been mentioned as possible strategic partners for Malta’s national airline, however the Tourism Minister has, on many occasions, refused to comment on who the actual strategic partner will be.