From Mr D. Farrugia

One needs to carry out some market research on the strategies of low cost airlines before passing judgement.

Malta will have 1.3 million tourists this year. Can we manage by having a set of objectives rather than criticising?

Can we get tourists from the Eastern Europe, the Iberia region, Scandinavia? Yes, of course we can; other low cost airlines can bring the numbers.

The result is that Malta can get over two million tourists (so easily) without depending on the usual UK market and AirMalta.

We need to ask whether we are ready to support these regions. How ready are we to lower the landing rates at the only airport? And will we support the airlines to get people from these markets?

But here it works the other way. First we have the downward trend in incoming tourists then we will do something to get the numbers back.

This is the wrong perception... it’s the Maltese culture.

AirMalta has been in the red for the last eight years, and like the rest of all small airlines in Europe it will be swallowed by some big profitable airline. Look at SN Brussels, Austrian Airlines, BMI, Swiss, Alitalia, British Mediterranean, KLM – they have been taken over by the four big airlines...

I will assume that AirMalta has no choice and if it’s to survive it has to be bought by another big airline that will keep the name (AirMalta).

I simply can’t understand why the government wants to keep its 99 per cent share in the airline.

So I ask myself: do we want to grow?

Majorca (Air Berlin base plus all other LCC), Tenerife (Spanair base), Madeira, Alghero (Ryanair base), Cagliari, Trapani (Ryanair base) have done it and now Menorca are supporting Easyjet by flying from Newcastle, Liverpool, Bristol.

In Malta’s case we are the last to react. Why?

David Farrugia

SIGGIEWI