Malta International CEO Alan Borg has backed the measures announced with regards to staff reduction within Air Malta, which are the last hope to ensure that the airline survives.

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced last week that the national airline will be reducing its personnel by over 400, which amounts to around half of the staff.

The cuts will mean that the airline would save around €15 million a year, Caruana said.

“Air Malta clearly has a very important role, which is that is essentially realigns itself to all primary airports in Europe. The numbers presented speak for themselves and the measures mentioned by the government are the last fighting chance for the airline to survive,” Borg said.

He added that MIA has passed on its support to ministers involved, including Air Malta’s Executive Chairman David Curmi over the recent developments.

“Air Malta is a vital link for the Maltese islands – Malta’s viability is a key point,” he said.

Due to new restrictions imposed by governments in attempt to curb the pandemic, air travel traffic developments have been greatly impacted. “We lost a lot of flights already, and as time progresses, it is likely that we will lose further flights,” said Borg.

During the press conference, Borg appealed to government for a post-Covid-19 strategy, which would give the industry the confidence to invest in businesses, and to incentivise the industry to upgrade the product and tourism offering.