Air Malta will be increasing its capacity by five per cent this winter – an increase of 31,000 seats over last winter – in an attempt to add to the number of incoming tourists during the low season.

At a media conference yesterday afternoon, the company launched its Winter 2006/7 schedule of operations that covers the period from tomorrow until 24 March.

The airline also launched its Winter 2006/7 edition of the Flyaway Tours brochure.

Outgoing travellers can choose from 35 destinations and over 130 flights every week.

Air Malta marketing and product general manager Brian Bartolo introduced the company’s new commercial and strategic planning chief officer Brock Friesen, who joined the national airline last July.

Dr Friesen said the company’s recent winter sale campaign, Spread your Arms and Fly, was another step to promote value-for-money travel opportunities during the winter months.

“The company managed to sell 28,000 return tickets through this campaign, 24,000 of which were purchased by incoming tourists,” Dr Friesen said.

He announced that a similar campaign will start today. Customers will have a choice of travelling to and from 30 different destinations for Lm20 one-way (excluding taxes and charges).

“We will be advertising aggressively throughout Europe,” he said, adding that Air Malta will be increasing its capacity on its network by five per cent – an increase of 31,000 seats over last winter.

Dr Friesen pointed out that service improvements are also at the forefront of the airline’s strategy.

“This season we will be receiving two more new Airbus A320 aircraft. Next year our fleet’s average age will go down to 2.5 years, becoming one of the youngest fleets in Europe and throughout the world.”

Another service improvement the company announced recently was the launch of its new call centre, Centrecom, through which it has centralised its telephone reservation operations, offering customers longer opening hours including weekends and holidays.