The mistakes made by various administrations regarding Air Malta must not be repeated.

Various Ministers who have been responsible for the airline, and indeed various Governments, have failed to ensure that it is run properly. The result … its imminent closure.

It’s been a long time coming. The warning signs that Air Malta was failing have been there for all to see. But nobody really did anything about it. Had the restructuring plan in the mid-2000s been more strict and seen less opposition, had there been better decisions taken over the years, had various Governments taken more action to ensure that the airline was going to make a profit, had the plan with the European Commission in 2012 been properly followed through, maybe things would be different.

We are in the situation we are in now due to the failure of our politicians.

Going forward, the only option is for politicians to learn from the mistakes made on Air Malta. Air Malta was, for many, many years, over-bloated in terms of its workforce. It is completely unacceptable that in 2010 and 2019 for instance, the airline had over 1,200 workers … for such a small airline. In addition, Minister Clyde Caruana had said that the early retirement schemes which were signed in 2007 and 2008 had resulted in €90 million now hanging over Air Malta’s head.

Caruana said that former politicians from both administrations over the years have “used and abused” Air Malta for their own benefit. And he is right. This is something that cannot happen with the new airline.

The Malta Chamber of Commerce has also underscored the strategic importance of operating a national airline efficiently, so as to ensure its viability over the long-term “after decades of unsustainable practices stemming out of political interference. These practices have cost the country millions”.

Indeed lessons should be learnt when it comes to the whole public sector. There are still many concerns as regarding the number of people employed by the Government in non-essential sectors, and this should be addressed.

But back on point.

The new airline will need to operate at a profit. Gone are the days when it can be burdened with unfeasible routes. Although that in itself can be problematic.

Minister Caruana stressed that the change will not be a cosmetic one. The new airline will be flying to 17 destinations, as opposed to the 37 in 2019/2020. That is a significantly fewer number of routes. That means that Air Malta cannot fly routes that are not popular but might, for instance, be important for other reasons.

But the aim is to have a high seat load factor. Instead of flying planes that were 25% empty on average as was the case years ago, he said, the plan is to have them 90% full. There might be other changes with the new airline which we also don’t have information about yet. The airline must, and we hope it will, be able to fulfil certain other obligations for the country, such as flying cargo as was the case during Covid, as amongst other things.

The Airline will be buying back the slots at Gatwick and Heathrow, and will also own three of the eight planes that it will fly in its fleet, which will be advantageous when compared to the current form that Air Malta is in. But, the airline might not be called Air Malta. The name is a source of pride for the country, but the new airline will need to go through a tender process to acquire the brand, which means other companies can also bid for it.

There is still a lot that needs to be known about the new airline, but at least we finally know the direction that things are heading in. Politicians from both sides of Parliament cannot make the same mistakes as were made in the past, or we might end up with no national airline.