The Nationalist Party has called for clarity on the national airline after reports that talks between the government and the European Commission on state aid for Air Malta have concluded.

MaltaToday said on Wednesday that Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has summoned the relevant unions for a meeting on Friday to brief them on the conclusions. It also said it appears that the EC has only approved a fraction of the €280m the government was seeking as aid for the ailing airline, whose finances have been further battered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Opposition finance spokesperson Mario de Marco said the government’s silence on Air Malta has reached “absurd” levels. The government, he said, has thrown all principles of transparency out the window.

De Marco said the government was not only excluding Parliament from the process of saving Air Malta, but also the unions, leaving hundreds of employees and their families in doubt.

The government must be clear and transparent on the Air Malta situation, in the interest of all workers and also for the future of the tourism industry, which is striving to recover from the effects of the pandemic. “The time has come for Robert Abela to decide, and not postpone till after the election.”

He called on the finance minister to brief Parliament on the situation.