Ryanair, Europe’s leading low-fares airline, yesterday launched its new route from Dublin to Malta. The flight will operate three times a week on a year-round basis.

To mark the launch of this new flight, Ryanair is offering seats to Dublin, London and Pisa from e4.99 (one-way fares, excluding charges and taxes) bookable on www.ryanair.com as from midnight today.

Bridget Dowling, sales and marketing manager for southern Europe said: “We have sold over 80,000 seats to date on our three routes from London, Pisa and Dublin to Malta. January origin statistics for the London and Pisa routes showed average inbound traffic figures of over 71 per cent into Malta, which shows that these routes have already provided a huge boost to tourism as well as offering a greater choice for travel for the Maltese. We are pleased to celebrate the launch of our third route from Dublin this morning and we hope that the Maltese government will expand its initiative to many routes to ensure that tourism to Malta continues to grow.”

Malta International Airport representatives were on hand to welcome the 149 passengers and crew arriving from Dublin yesterday morning.

The ticket offer is valid for tickets booked between today and Monday and tickets must be used between 16 February and 30 June.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association (MHRA) yesterday welcomed the new operation to Dublin, adding that early indications show that this route will “be very popular and will further help to increase the seat capacity to Malta”.

MHRA president Josef Formosa Gauci said that this was another step in the process of opening up the Maltese Islands to low-cost carriers in line with the growth trend of this source of business internationally.

“The MHRA feels that though a good start has been made, the process has taken far too long to conclude and the results to date are still only scratching the surface. Combined efforts need to continue to ensure that we maximise the seat capacity into Malta while ensuring that Air Malta are given the necessary support to take the decisions that need to be taken for the national airline to remain sustainable,” the association said.

It added that the German market is still under-served by low-cost flights while the UK market would definitely benefit from more routes in addition to the ones currently being served.

“There are also other new or underserved markets that should also be opened to low-cost flights as soon as possible.

The association urges the government for decisions to be taken in the shortest possible time to attract more low-cost carriers to operate to the island in the best interests of the tourism industry.”

The MHRA said that all operators in this sector of the economy could not afford to go through a similar year as 2006, adding that while initial figures for the tourism industry in 2007 show very small growth on last year, “everyone has to keep in mind that 2006 was a disastrous year for the industry and that year should not be used as a benchmark”.

The MHRA said it urged the government to regularly update the country on the progress being made on the National Plan for Tourism and to take the necessary action to ensure that the tourism industry grows by double-digit percentages in 2007 to bring it back onto its feet.

“Anything less would signify a failure to achieve the growth levels originally forecast for the three-year period 2005 to 2007.”