The Gozo Business Chamber (GBC) expressed astonishment at the recent announcement of a seaplane service between Grand Harbour in Malta and Mgarr Harbour in Gozo.

It said the announcement was more surprising since from the latest discussions that the GBC held with both the Prime Minister and the Gozo Minister, just a few weeks ago, there had never been any mention of such a service coming into operation, even though the chamber pressed the Prime Minister to do something concrete after the helicopter service was abandoned.

The chamber said it had always made it clear that such a seaplane was of no service to Gozo and the Gozitans. No Gozitan or tourist coming to or leaving Gozo would ever make use of this service, it claimed. On more than one occasion the GBC had also pointed out to the authorities that the port of Mgarr has become too congested with sea traffic entering and leaving the port.

“The addition of this seaplane now entering Mgarr Harbour will only add to the confusion and potentially increase the risk of a serious accident happening,” the GBC said.

It was quite clear, it added, that the only interest of the company running this operation was only commercial and addressed mainly to the large number of cruise liner visitors visiting Malta who could be interested in having a look around the island from the air.

The chamber said it would continue to press the authorities to come out with a serious plan to address the real issue of air transport between the two islands and come up with either a helicopter or a fixed wing service from the Gozo Heliport to Gudja Airport.

“Only in this way can Gozo offer some compensation for the problems facing its inhabitants and at the same time try to attract more visitors to Gozo,” the GBC said.