AirMalta has released its winter schedule which consists of 21 destinations in total due to the ongoing pandemic, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri announced today, while also launching AirMalta’s Business Guarantee programme.
“These months have been considered as black months for the tourism industry and, for Malta, the situation has proved the importance of having a national airline,” Schembri said, delineating the vital role it played in importation, medical assistance and repatriation among other funcitons.
This is why the government will always remain supportive of the airline, the Minister said, indicating that this is also the reason why they called for the EU to allow state aid.
However, he warned that Malta cannot rely solely on foreign operators to connect us to the rest of the world both for tourism and for cargo connectivity. For example, this winter there are airlines reducing their network by 30% which has resulted in fewer flights coming to Malta as is reflected in the winter schedule having just 21 destinations.
These countries include; Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Prague, Brussels, Schiphol (Amsterdam), Palermo, Catania, Fiumicino (Rome), Linate (Milan), Charles De Gaulle (Paris), Lyons, Madrid, Lisbon, Heathrow (London), (Tunis) Tunisia, Ukraine (Kiev), Shermetievo (Russia) and Tel Aviv (Israel).
Having said that, Schembri explained that, for this year, AirMalta will be working differently so that everyone has the peace of mind that they will not be stranded due to cancellation of flights.
He announced that AirMalta is launching a Business Guarantee programme to increase connectivity and security for businesses, investors, people and medical institutions. This programme will ensure that the operation of a network is guaranteed when legally possible. This applies for flights to a number of EU destinations on conditions that flights can be held locally.
During the winter schedule, there will be 156 weekly flights (45% less than last year) and 50% of these flights will be business guaranteed.
AirMalta Chair Charles Mangion said that the Business Guarantee programme shows the commitment the airline has towards the country while ensuring continuous connectivity with the main hubs of the EU and beyond, thus sustaining the economy.
Turning to the topic of delays in issuing refunds for cancelled flights during the pandemic, Mangion said “when the pandemic hit we had to ensure security for our staff, economic safety for the company and then see how to bring the service back to the people.”
The airline received 267,000 requests in total which had to be reviewed in order to check for any duplications. 44,000 of these requests were in fact duplicates with one request being registered 190 times.
Schembri was asked to elaborate on the state aid request for Air Malta and to give an idea of the package that they are expecting to have for the airline if it is approved.
The request is yet to be presented. Under normal circumstances, the government cannot assist any local company because of competition law. However, in light current circumstances, the EU Commission has become more lenient on the topic so the government is putting in a request to be allowed to give state aid to AirMalta. Schembri explained that another example of state aid is the wage supplement which has been very beneficial.
He explained that it would not be wise to reveal the amount that is being discussed since nothing is confirmed yet however he did hint that it would obviously require millions.
He was also asked for an update on the situation with the public call for a new AirMalta CEO. Schembri said that the call has officially closed and that there were over 200 applicants who are now undergoing a shortlisting process to start interviews and hopefully, in the coming days, the new CEO will be chosen.
Photos: Giuseppe Attard