Last April, it was reported that the Maltese Government was seeking Euro 290 million in state aid for Air Malta to turn the airline into a sustainable and profit-making enterprise. Such measures are normally forbidden but the European Commission has temporarily eased state aid rules to counteract the impacts of the pandemic. Indeed the pandemic has left a catastrophic impact on airlines, not least Air Malta due to restrictions and less appetite to travel under such circumstances.

For several months, our main markets such as the UK, where prohibited from travelling to Malta. Therefore, this call might seem to be understandable at face value. One can argue that several other airlines are also seeking state aid.  However, the problem has been brewing for years now. Labour has used the airline to please its people putting on the company's pay roll several of its stalwarts, canvassers and propagandists.

In 2017, former minister and PL Deputy Leader Charles Mangion was appointed as chairperson of Air Malta. Karl Stagno Navarra, best known as presenter of the programme Pjazza on Labour's propaganda machine, has been selected for the post of Head of Public Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility. These are just two examples. Not to mention bad decisions taken in the past including halting key routes such as Frankfurt citing "commercial reasons" only to be reintroduced later.

Reports in the press quoting finance Minister saying that "Air Malta is in a pitiful state" thus do not happen in a vacuum. However, they contrast with the fake news and propaganda of disgraced former Minister Konrad Mizzi who in 2018 had said that Air Malta would be ending the financial year without its books being in the red for the first time after many years. He had also spoke about Air Malta being on the "leading side". Does this ring a bell? Isn't this what Muscat's Labour had also promised for Malta - to be the best in Europe and in the world - prior of getting Malta grey listed and shaming our name across the globe?

Malta needs to draw a convincing long-term and sustainable plan for Air Malta to reduce running costs and overheads and increase efficiency. This is in the interest of all of us as without a national airline, it will not only be the workers and Maltese residents or those who work abroad to pay the hefty price but also important industries, including the most obvious, such as tourism but also other sectors such as the manufacturing sector. The pandemic has also shown us the importance of a national airline in times of crisis, with Air Malta having played an important role in the transport of protective equipment and vaccines helping Malta lead the way in the rollout.

I believe that the central role of Air Malta in the Maltese economy needs to play a key role in the criteria used by the European Commission when calculating the amount of state aid that the airline can receive. Unlike most member states in the EU, where merchandise can be transported via rail or road transport, we are isolated. This too needs to be taken into consideration.

Sometimes, it seems that we forget that we are an island state or even an archipelago (ask the Gozitans who had to wait for years to get a fast ferry service due to Labour's incompetence) and hence the importance of our own airline is overlooked. Connectivity is key and needs to be secured and strengthened constantly. This is why I have also used the platform of the Conference on the Future of Europe to ensure that EU regulations take into account our challenges (including those related to connectivity and transport), through territorial impact assessments.

A few months ago, I had raised the issue of new EU road transport rules and how lack of consultation with stakeholders as well as failure of prompt action by the Maltese government could have led to additional burden for SMEs and consumers. Let us not repeat past mistakes, we cannot keep on ignoring our connectivity or save the day through last minute measures.

Peter Agius MEP candidate

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