What has been left unsaid – and uncommented upon – in the media reports that easyjet will start flying three times a week from Milan to Malta next year, is the underlying corollary that these flights will be in stiff competition with Air Malta, which also flies from the capital of Lombardy.

Thus, after competition from low-cost airlines over flights to London and Manchester, yet another destination served by the national airline finds itself in direct competition with a big low-cost carrier.

Easyjet has confirmed it will be flying three times a week from Milan Malpensa and twice a week from Liverpool.

Speaking in Parliament during the budget debate, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco said that for next summer, the government already had confirmation of regular flights from Leeds Bradford, East Midlands, Oslo and Copenhagen.

Meanwhile, MTA is still in talks with other carriers.

It is also understood that Air Malta will start flights to and from Naples from 3 June, operating on Thursdays and Mondays. This information is already on the Air Malta booking engine, but so far, although the airline has the route for sale, no announcement has been made in the media.

Next summer, Thomas Cook Airlines will be offering all-inclusive return flights. The accompanying photo shows some of the Thomas Cook Airlines offers from Manchester: £170-200 return, with no extra charges.

Last week, Ryanair announced it is to base two new aircraft at its Trapani, Sicily hub, increasing its routes to and from the Mediterranean destination by 13.

It said the expansion will sustain 2,000 jobs locally.

The new routes are to Billund, Bratislava, Cagliari, Eindhoven, Genoa, Gothenburg, Ibiza, Karlsruhe (Baden-Baden), Krakow, Maastricht, Memmingen, Trieste and Valencia, beginning in March.

Three existing routes to Brussels (Charleroi), Frankfurt (Hahn) and Dusseldorf (Weeze) will see more flights, delivering two million passengers a year, according to the no frills airline.

Routes from Trapani to Bari, Brindisi and Madrid will continue to operate throughout the winter.