MHRA President, and Director of the Alpine Group Tony Zahra told The Malta Independent that his organisation, the Alpine Group, had been approached to form part of a consortium to invest in Air Malta, however was not able to divulge who it was that approached the Alpine Group.

He was contacted by this newsroom after rumours of such a consortium made the rounds. The consortium, he said, is made up of Maltese persons and entities, and does not include foreign investors. He also confirmed that it did not include the Livingstone Brothers, who along with the Alpine Group, were part of the White Rocks consortium.

Asked whether he is thinking about the consortium’s offer or whether he accepted, he said; “for now there’s nothing, nothing is happening from government’s side.” He said that things are currently on hold. Asked whether he is seriously considering the investment, he said; “we will always consider investments in Malta and yes, we are considering this.”

He was also not at liberty to say who the other members of the consortium are.

Mr Zahra, questioned whether he is contacting other Maltese, or perhaps foreign entities with regard to investment in the airline, said; “there is nothing to contact anyone about at the moment. When government decides what it wants to do, then government knows that we are here. For now, we were approached and are waiting for government’s next move.”

Talks between Air Malta and Alitalia recently broke down, thus leaving the future of Malta’s national airline in question. Mr Zahra has previously said that he was never impressed with the original announcement of talks between the two airlines, “because we simply could not picture a synergy between the two airlines”.

There was not further information that he was willing to divulge at this stage. He did say, however, he wishes that the airline could stabilise and move on.

“It has been our position for quite some time now that the solution for Air Malta lies with the Maltese,” he said soon after the news of the negotiation break down broke. Mr Zahra, who has never held back from criticising the now defunct deal, had said that the national airline should adopt a Bank of Valletta model, through which the bank is 80 per cent is owed by the private sector and 20 per cent by the government.

Recently in Parliament, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that government does not exclude the idea of local investment, but that it would have to be local investment in conjunction with a strategic partner, so that the Maltese national airline would have access to a larger route network, and other benefits.