Overseas markets where Air Malta operates from increased traffic by five per cent while revenues dropped marginally by less than half a percentage point. In Malta the airline has registered a dramatic improvement of over 20.5 per cent in passenger figures and 10.7 per cent in revenues. Markets outside the Air Malta route network registered a passenger increase of 27 per cent and almost 23 per cent in revenue.

Commenting on these results Air Malta chairman Lawrence Zammit said that the revenue increase came from increased passenger loads and not from an increase in the average revenue per passenger. This is a trend experienced throughout the industry in Europe, he added.

Mr Zammit expressed his satisfaction saying that the results indicated an encouraging trend. “I think that we are seeing the first positive results emerging as a direct consequence of a number of measures we took earlier this year.”

Figures relating to the home market, Mr Zammit explained, are the most pleasing where substantial improvements were registered. “There is no doubt that we are gaining market share,” he said. “We are obviously conscious of the effect that the drop in yields has in the overall equation, particularly at a time when costs for the industry, such as fuel, are on the way up.”

Earlier this year Air Malta launched the newly branded Fare 4U , budget flights, between Malta and Stansted, London and the intra-European flights between Catania and Gatwick, London. This week the airline also announced the introduction of FlexiFly, a new pricing concept, which is being introduced on all its full service routes from the 1 November.

The company’s CEO Mr Ernst Funk stated, “We are determined to continue with our proactive approach in the market. There is still a lot of ground to gain and we need to exploit the skills and the creativity of our staff and our trade and business partners to improve the results and manage the turnaround of the company.”