Malta's national carrier — Air Malta's financial struggles are quite obvious. Country's Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has been vocal about the situation that Air Malta is facing.
As he had stated earlier, Air Malta had been burning through €40-45 million annually , he admitted that "Brutal Reforms" are needed to save the airline from financial meltdown.
But, loss of someone is gain for the other ! Here comes Michael O’Leary — the Chief of Ryan Air Group , with his existing low cost venture in Malta as " Malta Air" , and he has his plans to fill in the gaps.
Ryanair Subsidiary MALTA AIR , Picture Courtesy : Owen
In an Interview with Times of Malta , he has said,
Malta Air will serve Malta should anything “untoward” happen to the national carrier.
Ryanair doesnot waste a moment to capture the opportunity, they have shown it in the past as well. Not long ago , on 10th September 22 , when Aer Lingus had to cancel several flights due to a technical glitch , Ryanair was all ready to fill in the Blanks. It's statement read ,
Ryanair offers rescue fares for stranded Aer Lingus passengers in Dublin, Cork and Shannon.
Aware of the exact situation in Malta and it's national carrier , O’Leary said "Malta Air" will continue to step into any routes left unserved by "Air Malta" due to cutbacks.
Ryanair knows it verywell , In order to save the national airline, Malta needs to do a large capital injection and reform. However, this needs to be approved by the European Commission.
Malta's National Carrier - Air Malta .
Infact , the finance minister of Malta was open about it , when he said ,
“The company definitely needs a capital injection, how this will happen and the form the company will take will be decided by the European Commission” .
In the Interview with Times of Malta , he further clarified his plans. Asked if Ryanair is already eyeing taking over any particular Air Malta routes, O’Leary said this was not the case, as Air Malta generally operated to “high-cost” airports in Europe.
He observed that the country is no longer dependent on Air Malta as the Ryanair group operates 65 routes to Malta in summer and 55 in winter.
“I think Ryanair’s investment in Malta Air means there is now an alternative [to Air Malta],” said O’Leary, who was in Malta on Thursday to announce his airline’s winter routes to Malta.
Questioned if he views the millions pumped into Air Malta by the government as amounting to unfair competition, O’Leary said:
“Air Malta isn’t much competition to us at all”.
It's a general belief that , Air Malta used to recruit people close to those in power into jobs where they are either not needed or where they do very little in terms of work. Those employees are then ‘supported’ through agreements which are truly on the lines of the absurd and unbelievable.
The Finance minister had accepted the fact as,
“I cannot understand how a company can make a profit when its employees retire at 55 and are continued to be paid till they’re 65.”
On the other hand, O’Leary said Ryanair has offered the government its “help and assistance” to aid Air Malta’s survival, but did not elaborate further on what this could mean in practice.
“We do not want to threaten Air Malta, we want to see Air Malta survive. Competition between airlines is good for consumers and is good for tourism in Malta.”
