Re-introduction of Gozo air link unclear

Helicopter operations between Malta and Gozo by Malta Air Charter will cease on Sunday with no concrete indication as to when it will be re-introduced.

Air Malta said yesterday the final flight will leave the Gozo heliport at 10.30 p.m. this Sunday.

The service had been provided by the air company's subsidiary, Malta Air Charter, since 1990.

Air Malta said that over its years of operation the company carried between 30,000 and 40,000 passengers every year. The peak was reached in 1994 when 64,000 passengers made use of the service.

However, Air Malta said the demand for the service declined and "never managed to reach adequate levels".

The service was operated by a fleet of two Russian-built 26-seater MI-8 helicopters. Air Malta said that although the two helicopters served the company well by providing certain cost advantages they did not comply with the necessary specifications and could thus no longer be used.

The government is holding talks with British company Veritair which has expressed an interest in providing a helicopter service between the two islands.

Labour Party leader Alfred Sant has strongly deplored the government's decision to stop the helicopter service without providing an alternative. Such a move, he said, would continue to hinder tourism and development in Gozo.

Dr Sant said it was being said that a foreign company would be offering an air transport service between Malta and Gozo on a trial basis but, he added, the service should have been introduced immediately.

He was addressing a press conference at the Gozo heliport after crossing over to the sister island by helicopter.

Dr Sant acknowledged that the helicopter service had operated at a loss but one had to keep in mind that it was part of the transport system which took tourists to Gozo. He said that between 1999 and 2002, a total of 221,000 passengers had used the helicopter.

Dr Sant said it was being stated that a foreign company would start operating in spring on a six-month trial basis. But it made no sense to allow Gozo without such a service for six months.

He said the company which would operate the air link was insisting to take over the service provided by army helicopters to ferry medical patients between Gozo and Malta. "It appeared that one was approaching a situation where the MLP would have serious questions over how genuine was the alternative to the helicopter service," Dr Sant said.

In a reaction to Dr Sant's comments, the Competitiveness and Communication Ministry said that representatives of the Veritair company had said earlier this month it would be difficult for the company to start offering the service as from November 1. However, this was not acceptable to the government, which wanted to ensure continuity in the service and it had asked Veritair to reconsider its position.

A detailed list of proposals was submitted by Veritair on October 17 but some of them were not acceptable to the government. Negotiations between the two parties are still under way but the ministry said this did not mean the service would start on Monday.

Veritair is expected to communicate its position to the government in the coming days after an internal meeting by the company tomorrow.