As one of the speakers at the opening of Air Malta’s International Travel Exhibition (Amitex), Dr Gatt felt the need to address the current situation of the airline and its intimate relationship with the tourism industry.

Dr Gatt said that the government does not find any conflict between the interest of the airline and tourism. A shareholder assessing the company’s sustainability should, on the other hand, be reminded that the airline is needed for tourism to prosper, he continued.

Despite their obvious symbiotic relationship, neither must believe that they exist simply to serve the other. Air Malta and the tourism industry function independently but inevitably affect each other, said Minister Gatt. He stressed that both must develop every opportunity, not just the ones that are provided by each other.

Dr Gatt pointed out that Malta is serviced by airlines other than Air Malta and more have expressed interest to join in. Although this is not in Air Malta’s obvious interest, he said, it is good news for the country.

Although the challenges are tough, he said, they can be faced if everyone pulls together.

Air Malta Chairman Lawrence Zammit mirrored Dr Gatt’s sentiment of having everyone pull together to safeguard Air Malta. The restructuring of the airline has prompted difficult negotiations between the management and unions, he said, adding that he would like to see the spirit of teamwork running through the whole of the company.

Air Malta is rising to the challenge of creating new opportunities for the company itself. The new low-cost flights between Malta and London being marketed as Fare 4U should lead to interesting results from the UK market, he said. He also mentioned a possible expansion of this service.

Air Malta’s flights between London and Catania are to be launched in the next few days, he said. This sees the national airline moving away from the traditional point-to-point flight schedule it has been accustomed to providing.

Airbus is one of the main sponsors for this year’s Amitex and the Air Malta chairman went on to say that by the end of this season, six of Air Malta’s aircraft will be the latest planes from the Airbus family.

Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said that this could be the year when the downward trend of tourism can possibly be stemmed. Between 2001 and 2003 tourist arrivals fell by 2.9 per cent compared with 2000, said the minister. The numbers were down by 3.9 per cent in 2002 and 0.6 per cent in 2003. He noted that although there were fewer arrivals last year, earnings rose by 2.3 per cent. 2003 was the year that the decline in tourism had been taken somewhat under control, he continued.

The decrease in tourist arrivals during the first three months of this year can be attributed mostly to the British and German markets, which lost 6,482 tourists in total. Despite this decrease, said the minister, tourism earnings in January show an increase of Lm2.6 million, 18.3 per cent over the same month last year.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that the Malta Tourism Authority must concentrate on marketing Malta for conference and incentive travel. Malta’s EU accession should be beneficial to the tourism sector since the island will profit from more inter-European travel.

Membership of the EU will also make it much easier for low cost airlines to operate to and from Malta, the minister continued. Malta will also be receiving a surplus of E210 million from EU funding in its first three years of membership.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that this means there will be a positive injection of capital towards various projects, including those concerning the quality of tourism products. The minister also noted that Malta is lobbying for tourism to become a specific policy area with the EU.

The 11th Amitex, opened yesterday, is being held at the Trade Fair Grounds in Naxxar until Sunday.