Around 70 per cent of Air Malta’s workforce, excluding pilots, has applied to be transferred out of the national airline.

A total of 571 Air Malta employees applied for the Voluntary Employees Transfer Scheme by the time it closed on Friday, meaning the offer was significantly oversubscribed. 

The scheme was initially due to run until the end of January but was extended by two weeks after a poor initial uptake.

The 571 applicants represent 69 per cent of the 824 workers eligible for the scheme, which was announced last month when the government unveiled its last-ditch effort to save the airline. 

The government wants to bring Air Malta’s workforce down to around 420 people, saving it around €15 million a year in payroll expenses. To achieve that reduction, it will need to shed 450 workers from its books.

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said when announcing the restructuring that airline workers who are transferred out of the airline will maintain their current pay and work conditions. The General Workers’ Union, which represents many of those workers, has said it has received similar guarantees.

 It is not clear whether all 571 workers who have applied for a transfer out of Air Malta will have their application accepted: applications will now have to be assessed and workers matched with suitable roles elsewhere before the restructuring can be completed.

In a statement announcing the applications, Air Malta thanked unions and workers for their help throughout the scheme, which it said was one of eight “cost improvement opportunities” that it has identified to bring its costs in line with those of other comparable airlines.