News last week came that one of the largest European low cost carriers, Easyjet, had bought out the routes currently operated by GB Airways, part of the British Airways franchise.

The deal was pretty straightforward. GB Airways will continue to service the London Gatwick and Manchester to Malta routes till the end of March while Easyjet will start operating in April. This is all good news as it will allow for other market segments to travel to and from Malta; tourists, rather than the more businessy types that GB Airways aimed for. It should work out to more passengers coming over, which is all good for Malta.

However, we should not get ahead of ourselves. This deal merely means the handover of two routes to another carrier; it does not mean that more routes have been opened. We have already said that it will probably mean more visitors to Malta, but we should also look at other positive aspects that could ensue.

Easyjet had pulled out of Malta talks when the market was first opened up to low cost carriers. This left the field totally in the dominance of Ryanair. Easyjet did not really make their reasons known to the local press and do tend to adopt a quiet policy in this regard. However, rumour had it that the airport charges were too expensive and would not have made the strict cost-structure employed in low cost carriers viable. Yet it seems that the carrier has had a change of heart.

Reports in the UK have suggested that Malta is the second most popular holiday destination for Brits at present and perhaps this piece of information galvanised Easyjet into at least getting a foot in the door.

It remains to be seen whether the carrier will offer routes to and from Malta. By this we mean services such as those offered by Ryanair, who fly to other destinations from Malta, such as Sweden, Ireland, Italy and the like. We are sure that once Easyjet gets in, they will expand operations to include other destinations, it will make sense.

This will allow for a greater influx of tourists to Malta from different corners of Europe. It will also, of course, allow Maltese people the chance to visit other destinations in Europe for cheaper prices.

On this theme, we also question what has become of Ryanair’s proposal to set up a permanent base in Malta. This would have meant a fleet of Ryanair aircraft operating out of Malta, broadening the travel spectrum and also providing employment to hundreds of Maltese people.

We understand that this was only a proposal made by the carrier, but we do not know what has become of it. Were there any negotiations? Was the proposal turned down? Did Ryanair withdraw the proposal? Is it still there floating in limbo?

Or could it simply have been a marketing sweetener tactic used by the carrier’s owner to secure the Malta routes? We also must not forget that there are other budget carriers from Spain and Germany operating to and from Malta. We certainly hope to see more in 2008 as they definitely provide the needed influx of tourists we need to bolster the recovering sector, which has had such a disastrous period post 11 September.