Italian low cost carrier Meridiana will be flying one or two direct flights a week between Bologna and Malta, it was announced last week. The first flight will be on 1 June.

Italian news agency reports said this was an attempt to break into a market covered almost entirely by Air Malta and Alitalia.

Initially, there will be two flights a week, on Thursday and on Sunday, which will be reduced to one flight a week from October.

It was also announced last week that Aer Lingus will be increasing its flights from Dublin to Bologna by one flight, making three flights a week. Tickets cost e34.

An additional flight is that from Bologna to Helsinki by Sterling, which now operates two flights a week and costs e23.