“Vague” plans to reduce Air Malta’s fleet have raised concerns over job security as well as seat capacity, shadow economy minister Claudio Grech said.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Grech raised a number of questions about the national airline’s announcement that it would be axing its fleet by one-third and called for a more detailed plan to be unveiled.
He was reacting to a statement issued by Air Malta CEO Philip Micallef yesterday, which followed a Times of Malta story revealing that the airline planned to significantly reduce the number of its aircraft.
In the brief statement, Mr Micallef said the airline’s management had drafted plans to scale down its fleet to seven from 10 planes but would be increasing aircraft utilisation and operate the same amount of flights – 4,452.
Mr Micallef said that the airline’s ultimate aim was to do “more with less” by operating more night flights, carrying out more maintenance work after peak flight times, improving aircraft turnaround and modifying flight departure times.
Air Malta is more than just an airline; it is a vital strategic resource
Mr Grech, however, called for more details to be announced to allay concerns that the service provided by Air Malta would not be jeopardised.
He said that the airline brought half of all the ‘package’ tourists visiting Malta every year, which amounted to 50 per cent of all tourist arrivals on the island.
“Air Malta is more than just an airline; it is a vital strategic resource,” Mr Grech said.
“We need to know that the plan to reduce the number of planes will not hinder its ability to continue acting as such,” he said, adding that he was not shooting down the plan but simply raising valid concerns.
He said that the Nationalist Party was against reducing the fleet “in principle” but could accept the idea if it were reassured this would not signal the end of Air Malta as we know it.
Mr Grech was flanked by Nationalist spokesmen Antoine Borg and Ċensu Galea, who presented the Opposition’s official stand on Air Malta.
The two-page document stresses that, “above all else”, the airline should not be handed over to the private sector.
This, it insists, would offer no guarantee that the “national interest” would remain at the heart of its operations.
This did not mean, however, that capital injections could not come from the private sector, but these should not lead to a majority share ownership, the document continues.
Referring to the document, Mr Borg said local investors could provide capital injections to the company, while alternative models for “strategic alliances” should be explored.
Mr Grech described the position document as a “bold step” for the PN, which was choosing to be constructive in Opposition rather than simply criticising the national carrier.