As Germany’s major low-cost carrier begins operations to Malta today, company representative Andreas Engel told The Malta Independent that Germanwings chose to expand its business operations to Malta because the airline “sees it as a country with great potential for tourism and business.”

Following a deal concluded last September, Germanwings will be flying to and from Cologne and Stuttgart, with two weekly flights from each airport, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

“Germanwings is happy to launch operations to Malta. The company, with its headquarters in Cologne, focuses on offering routes to the main European business cities,” said Mr Engel.

A total of 42 per cent of passengers flying Germanwings are business travellers.

By summer, the airline’s fleet will include 27 aircraft and the company has set itself high growth rates for 2007. With a turnover of e560 million last year, the airline aims to increase this to well over e600 million this year.

The Malta Tourism Authority has planned a special welcome to mark the beginning of the low-cost airline’s operations to Malta.

In a similar welcome to the one given to passengers and cabin crew flying Ryanair on the Malta route for the first time last October, a traditional Maltese band and people dressed in traditional costumes will welcome passengers and cabin crew arriving at Malta International Airport on Germanwings today.

Besides the introduction of two new regions in Germany, passengers will also be able to purchase tickets to destinations such as Edinburgh, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo and St Petersburg, all of which are served by Germanwings through their Cologne base.

This summer, the low-cost carrier will be flying to no fewer than 66 destinations, the departure points strategically chosen to serve all of Germany.

The airline sells seats exclusively online, through its website www.germanwings.com and it launched its selling of seats to and from Malta at prices starting from e19 one way, excluding taxes.

Germanwings is the third low-cost carrier serving the Malta route. Irish carrier Ryanair flies to and from London Luton, Pisa and Dublin, while Italian carrier Meridiana operates between Malta and Bologna.

Catalan low-cost carrier Click Air is expected to fly between Malta and Barcelona in June, while Easy Jet appears to have lost interest in Malta, although industry sources had said that discussions have not fallen through completely.