Low-cost airlines

The attack on Air Malta by Michael B. Spiteri from New York (April 6) comes across as a personal vendetta against our national airline and, in the main, his facts are hugely inaccurate.

Among his many mistakes, he claims that Air Malta has "a monopoly flying to and from the island". To which monopoly does he refer? The only route that (in the past) Air Malta was ever granted a monopoly on was the Gozo route, which it magnanimously took upon itself to create and develop for 10 years, for the good of Gozo. In fact, it lost millions of liri along the way, as this route was always uneconomical, even as a sole operator.

Air Malta does not have, and has never had, a monopoly on any route beyond Malta's shores. On its EU routes, it does not even have the protection of a bilateral agreement, which in itself still allows for competition. On the UK routes, where Mr Spiteri's "utmost interest" lies, Air Malta competes against British Airways, Astraeus and British Jet, along with at least five other British charter airlines, all easily available to Mr Spiteri's custom.

The reason for Mr Spiteri's attack on our national carrier was to voice his "utmost interest" in the possible introduction of "low-cost" flights to Malta by Ryanair. The "only say" that the government has as to whether Ryanair operates to Malta or not, is whether they "give in" to Ryanair's pretentious demands for subsidies and discounts. This would be most unfair and quite underhand to other airlines operating to Malta, especially Air Malta, the home carrier which single-handedly invested and developed the tourism industry in Malta. Ryanair actually call these prize discounts from airports, regional governments and business communities "sponsorship", but these have been deemed illegal in at least two separate court rulings in Strasburg and Charleroi.

However, what Mr Spiteri does not realise is that had Ryanair to operate to Malta from London, it would not fly from convenient (but very expensive) airports like Heathrow or Gatwick, but rather from Luton (near Bedford) or Stansted (near Cambridge), both many miles away from London and even further from Heathrow and Gatwick. If Mr Spiteri complains about presently having bad connections to New York, (which is nonetheless untrue), he should be overjoyed that in future, he may be able to catch a Ryanair flight by transferring from one of London's main airports to one of Ryanair's airport hubs in the East Anglia countryside by underground, train and/or taxi, which will put him back a further £30 to £60 (per person, each way), along with some two to four hours of extra travelling time, depending on his choice of ground transfer.

Also, should his transatlantic flight arrive late, Mr Spiteri would do well to read Ryanair's volumes of small print, as he will find that Ryanair itself advises its passengers not to connect with other flights, not even its own. Should he miss their flight he would lose absolutely everything, and will need to re-purchase a full price ticket, which can cost some £200 or more for a one-way ticket (yes, with Ryanair), on the same day, since the low cost model only works for those who book well in advance (six months plus).

Regarding Air Malta's profitability (or lack of it), again he is badly informed. Mr Spiteri gives the impression that Air Malta has been losing money throughout its existence and that it is a chip on everybody's shoulder. This again is very untrue. Since 1974, Air Malta made record profits year after year until the late 1990s. It is pertinent to point out that by far the losses in the last few years stemmed from non-core investments having eventually gone badly wrong, as well as some politically imposed decisions that were unprofitable. However, Air Malta dutifully propped up tourism (to its own detriment) and thus the local economy during the big lull that suppressed tourism during successive global tragedies like September 11, Sars, the Iraq war, etc.

Had we to rely on Ryanair alone, the moment the bottom line turns red they will pull out of Malta and flee like a homesick angel going back to heaven, leaving our economy in ruins. This has already happened on certain routes, at Ryanair's Charleroi and Bergamo bases, and it has pulled out completely from Strasburg.

Not Air Malta though, which serves 45 scheduled destinations from Malta at varied levels of return, paying their taxes in Malta, using exclusively a Maltese labour force, patriotically supporting the local tourism and business industry for the last 32 years in good times and bad. Air Malta is a good, experienced airline, and frequent travellers who have flown with other short haul airlines find that our national airline compares very favourably.

Above all, it is an airline the Maltese should be proud of. The government would do well to think twice before giving any unfair subsidies and special treatment to Ryanair that may end up hurting Malta badly in the long run.