Nationalist Party leadership contender Adrian Delia has called on the government to keep the staff at Air Malta informed about any partnership developments that might occur in the organisation.

Writing in a Facebook post, Delia claims he was approached by employees of the national airline who are seriously concerned about the manoeuvres going on at the ailing company.

“If the Prime Minister does not intend to publish the correspondence between the government and the presumably strategic partner, he should at least keep the workforce informed as these decisions affect their jobs and their lives directly,” he wrote on his Facebook profile.

Konrad Mizzi, the Minister who was at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal, was reappointed as Minister for Tourism and a major part of his remit is taken up by Air Malta, the national airline that has had a number of failed attempts at concluding strategic partnerships. For the last four years, the Maltese government has been considering teaming up with Alitalia, the Italian company which is itself in debt.

In his comments to the media immediately after the swearing-in ceremony, Konrad Mizzi said that his first priority was to have the national airline restructured before talks with a strategic partner begin.