Malta MedAir, a government-owned airline which had been playing a support role for Air Malta, on Saturday performed its first scheduled flight with its own aircraft.

The airline operated an Airbus A320 with its own livery on a return flight between Malta and Warsaw. The crew were all Maltese. 

The airline was formally set up in January 2018 by the government and had so far played a supporting role to Air Malta.

But Economic Services Minister Silvio Schembri said on Saturday it will henceforth be operating its own scheduled services to several European destinations.

The airline is planning to engage more staff in the coming weeks.  

In July last year, then tourism minister Konrad Mizzi had warned that  Malta MedAir could step in and take over Air Malta’s growth plan if issues between the national airline and its pilots are not resolved. Air Malta has since sacked 69 pilots and the pilots' union has declared an industrial dispute.

When Malta MedAir was registered, Mizzi had said it was to take over and administer Air Malta’s landing rights and slots in particular airports, mainly the lucrative London rights.