That the global and local tourism markets are in a slump is undeniable, as are the reasons behind the slump. As the international recession gains an ever stronger foothold, consumer spending plummets and among the first consumer items placed on the chopping block are luxury goods and holidays.

Not only are holiday plans being placed on backburners across Europe, but Europeans are also increasingly looking toward staying in their own countries where they can travel by car instead of digging deeper to fork out for airfares.

Indeed, the current state of affairs is exactly why a renewed request from Ryanair for an incentive in the form of a reduction of airport charges so as to establish a base in Malta should be seriously entertained by the government. This of course is not the first time the low cost carrier has made such a request, which has been dismissed in its previous incarnations.

But at the present moment and under the current conditions of dwindling tourist numbers – a situation that leaves even the world’s leading economists scratching their heads over when the dark clouds are to finally lift – a surge in low cost travel could end up being the Maltese tourism market’s saving grace.

As with all things Ryanair, the latest offer is accompanied by lofty figures. A two-plane base, Ryanair forecasts, would double the number of passengers it carries to Malta to reach 1.1 million a year, leaving e273 million behind in the local economy and creating some 1,100 jobs in the process. The new routes, it says, could kick off as early as this October, should the government come back with a positive and quick reply.

The fact that Ryanair has brought well over half a million tourists to Malta per year since the launch of its first route in November 2006 reinforces the claim.

But beyond the claims themselves, what the government must consider is the effect of creating more low cost routes to the island, and the possibility that more low cost flights could raise Malta’s tourism figures from the doldrums they are quickly approaching, and at a time in which the industry itself, which accounts for close to a quarter of the country’s total economic activity – cottage industries aside, appears to be hanging on a fast-fraying thread.

On the surface, it would appear to be an offer the government could not refuse, until one gets to the conditions attached. To set up a base with an initial two planes, Ryanair is once again requesting a reduction in its airport charges in line with the number of passengers carried – and, in what appears to be an attempt at a compromise over past failed initiatives, if the expected growth fails to materialise then such support would be withheld.

The airport’s charges, the airline contends, are three times higher than what it costs the airline to fly to Malta – respectively e25 per person as against e7 per person.

Malta International Airport, for its part, insists its charges have remained constant since 2006, which in itself, it says, should be considered as a reduction in costs, and that its costs are well within the European average. Moreover, the airport insists that any new routes being pitched should not disrupt the regular flow of the long established routes.

Whatever the case, a compromise must be found. All airlines operate on tight margins, and the low cost segment is certainly by no means an exception. Arguing a case for government subsidisation, the airline argues that perhaps funds could come from the country’s tourism advertising budget, which, it argues, is failing to achieve the intended results – results the airline feels it would be able to provide directly should it be given the right financial conditions within which to set up a base.

A long, hard look must be given to the assessment if it is to be seriously considered, particularly as regards the core and crucial British market, whose consumers have been the hardest hit in Europe by the fallout of the financial crisis and recession the EU has become mired in.