The announcement by Ryanair to base one of its aircraft here in Malta came out of the blue, but it certainly has been a long time in coming.

The low cost carrier had expressed its interest in opening a base in Malta from the very start, but various hitches, including demands by Ryanair for lower charges by the Malta International Airport.

The issue was then put on the back burner, but every time Ryanair launched a new route from Malta, it always reiterated its intention to open a base here. The initial deal runs for five years and the company is also set to open six new routes to Malta to bring to total up to 13. It is estimated that the new activities will increase the amount of passengers that Ryanair brings to Malta from 440,000 to 800,000 while creating 80 jobs.

It is understood that Ryanair spoke to both the Malta Tourism Authority and the MIA in an effort to not cross swords with Air Malta, in the sense of duplicating services. This is all positive. It will bring more tourists to Malta, while at the same time creating new jobs and offering Maltese citizens the opportunity to travel to new destinations at an affordable price.

Of course, the forecast of doubling arrivals by Ryanair alone is enough to whet the appetite of the government and all tourism operators. It will certainly do a lot to increase bed nights, arrivals and expenditure in Malta. As we have already mentioned, it will also be a good thing for the Maltese tourist who might be seeking a new destination. We can only see positives all round.

But we must always remain vigilant. Ryanair is still one of the most cutthroat operations in the business. The carrier literally takes not prisoners. While it is committed to Malta for the next five years, one should always be wary of the possibility of the company upping sticks and moving to pastures new. It is not the first time it has happened and if things do not work out for it economically, make no mistake, it will simply up and off without so much as a goodbye. That would leave Malta in quite a difficult situation. Of course, we do not mean to be the harbingers of doom. Hopefully, the venture will prove to be profitable all round and that everyone will get a slice of the pie. But over reliance on any one carrier (apart from Air Malta) will spell out disaster. If Ryanair were to hypothetically take up – say – 50 per cent of traffic in the future, and it decided to pull out... where would that leave us? Up the proverbial creek without a paddle, is the answer.

But the move is bound to pay dividends, at least in the short run. While Ryanair has pledged to stay out of Air Malta’s ‘patch’, they will also concentrate on cachement areas that are not viable given to current air routes to Malta. One of the routes to be opened is to Krakow. In the current scenario, it is not at all easy, or cost effective for a Pole to come to Malta on holiday…But with a new service right on their doorstep, Malta suddenly becomes a potential destination. We have seen proof of this in the UK with some of the services which have been launched by low cost carriers. People who previously had to travel for hours to get to an airport now can simply go to their local one and grab a low cost flight to Malta. We look forward to success all round.