I have been following the saga of low-cost airlines for some months now, so it does come as a surprise that your newspaper even considered this event as “news” – so three weekly flights to three destinations attracted just a little more than the equivalent of a passenger load of four full flights? And this at a price of one euro per seat?

I would not even remotely consider this a puddle – let alone a flood. If this is going to be Ryanair’s claim to bring over a million (or was it 200,000 or even 85,000) new tourists to Malta, the tourism minister and the low-cost-at-all-costs brigade should re examine their strategies and curb their enthusiasm. Even the marketing hype of “a seat a minute” for a total of 8000 seats from Luton is nowhere near what we have been made to believe is the number of new tourists Ryanair will be bringing to our shores. One also has to see if these tourists are actually switchovers from the legacy airlines that have been operating for so long in Malta, and also keeping in mind that Ryanair is having a seat sale, which it keeps extending week by week.

The reality of the whole story seems to be a far cry from what the GRTU wants us to believe. As the Tourism Minister rightly said, one has to evaluate these numbers from all aspects. Now, Ryanair has to put its money where its mouth has been for the past 18 months. Will it really succeed in increasing the number of NEW tourists to Malta, or is all this hype part of a bigger plan to use Malta as a base as long as it’s convenient for them?

We have all read and seen the pressure the Tourism Minister has been under from our leading hoteliers in this saga. The local press has also been dishing out its tuppenny’s worth – including jibes and negative remarks regarding our national airline – I quote this Sunday’s story about delayed flight from Stansted airport where the issue was one of security not negligence. The MTA’s latest figures put the decrease in revenue from tourism partly at the feet of two newly built hotels. Why build more hotels if you have to close pre-existing ones? And what about improving your standards while you’re at it?

Low cost travel is a reality every country has to face. Malta is different in that it has only one airport. We also have to pay the highest taxes to leave the island – this does not seem to be an issue with our tourism minister as “these taxes are not for tourists”. I really hope that the rest of the government will be left to do its homework without any pressure from outside sources before dishing out more routes on a silver platter.

Stephanie Farrugia

Naxxar