Labour MEP Alfred Sant has again come out against the idea of introducing flights between Malta and Gozo, saying that this is not commercially viable.

The former prime minister, in a post on Facebook, said that he cannot understand how the idea of an airport found so much support from Gozitan businessmen.

“I cannot in any way see how aeroplane flights, via a regular schedule or otherwise… can be commercially viable,” he said.

Last August, Sant had highlighted the issue in his bi-weekly column on The Malta Independent, saying that he remained “unconvinced by the proposal for Gozo to develop an airport able to receive arrivals of planes from Malta carrying up to 11 passengers. That same load can be carried by a reasonably sized helicopter.

In his Facebook post today, Sant said that the proposal for flights between the two islands is less credible than the idea of having two companies compete for fast ferry services.

The fact that a project like this (flights) is bound to fail is being ignored by everyone, Sant writes.

In the meantime, more countryside land in Gozo will be eaten up and destroyed so that, after the project collapses, is replaced by residential and commercial blocks, with developers then going for other agricultural land in the vicinity.

Gozo deserves more respect, he said.