No incentive to fly Air Malta

I must agree with Paul Smith's comments (June 18) regarding empty seats on Air Malta routes to and from the UK.

What does Air Malta offer within the scope of services and benefits that other airlines offer for less money? Frequent Air Malta fliers are well aware of the cutbacks that have taken place in the last six months. Air miles can only be utilised by telephoning the air miles section of Air Malta's head office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Mondays to Fridays, seven days in advance of the booking or heavy penalties have to be paid.

I flew to Florida from Manchester for £202, including all taxes, insurance, good food, complimentary drinks and videos all the way, plus 40 kilos of excess baggage. My flight from Malta to Manchester was £211.72 with awful food and no in-flight entertainment, just a map of Air Malta's route to and from the UK. What incentive is there to fly Air Malta? What passengers require is value for money and Air Malta is not providing a value-for-money service.

The powers that be at Air Malta can see the danger of low-cost airlines coming to Malta, but all the cost-saving cuts made recently only further highlight the policy of minimum service at a maximum price. This will continue to force passengers to use alterative airlines that can still be profitable on the same routes and cost less to their customers.