Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, reaffirmed its opinion that Malta International Airport (MIA) is holding the Malta tourism industry to ransom.

MIA clearly has no interest in the Maltese tourism industry and is only interested in lining the pockets of its shareholders. This is supported by the following facts:

Interim dividend for 2008 of e4,059,000 paid to shareholders on 6 September and final dividend for 2008 of e3,856,050 approved at the recent annual general meeting;

e25 million wasted over the past three years enhancing the infrastructure of the airport, which has added no value in attracting tourists to Malta;

Existing strategy of opening food and beverage outlets for non-travelling public in an attempt to reduce MIA’s dependency on passenger numbers in the coming years;

e8 support per “transfer” passenger, that is, passengers that pass through the airport and do not step foot outside it. Such passengers add absolutely no value to the Maltese economy.

The airport operates as the only gateway to Malta for tourists. This gateway is ultimately controlled by MIA and its airport charges. The existing extortionate charges act as a barrier to tourism. The tourism industry is one of the industries, which respond quickest to price increase and price cuts. If MIA is genuinely interested in reversing the declining trend in tourists in Malta, it will offer low cost volume discount schemes in return for traffic growth.

MIA is deluded by comparing itself to Europe’s main airports, the likes of which carry more than 15 times more traffic than MIA per annum. The only things which MIA and Europe’s main airports have in common are high costs and declining tourist numbers.

Malta, as a country, is in direct competition for tourists with countries such as Greece and Spain. Both of these countries have recently announced initiatives to lower taxes and airport charges in order to reverse recent traffic and tourist declines. These initiatives include:

The Greek government has reduced charges at all regional airports to zero;

The Spanish government has announced a zero rate of airport tax for airlines that increase traffic.

If MIA is genuinely interested in the Maltese economy, it should cancel its final dividend of almost e4m, cancel development of food and beverage outlets for non-travelling public and revoke the e8 transfer passenger incentive.

The saving made from the above could be used to fund a low cost volume discount scheme which would complete with the recent initiatives announced by competing governments to tackle recent traffic and tourism declines.

COLIN CASEY

Commercial Analyst

Ryanair