Air Malta has started cancelling flights for June onwards on a day-by-day basis, Times of Malta is informed.

Although Malta’s airport remains closed, with the authorities reluctant to say when the island’s ports will be reopened, the airline has decided to start cancelling flights on a day-by-day basis. This as opposed to its procedures when the coronavirus first hit the island, when it would cancel flights for an entire month. This was the case for May, for instance. 

Times of Malta sought information on the matter after a look through the airline’s website revealed some flights could be booked starting June. 

A spokesperson confirmed that while, in previous months the airline had opted to cancel flights for an entire month, it would now no longer be doing so. 

In fact, he said, the flights scheduled for June 1 were only just cancelled on Monday. 

In April, Malta’s flight ban was extended to the end of May. No other official update has been provided although the health authorities have repeatedly stated the re-opening of the airport was not something that would happen soon. 

Flights to and from Malta have been suspended since March 21, about a fortnight from when the first case of the novel virus was registered on the island. 

Since then, a number of repatriation flights have been operated to bring residents back to Malta from countries all over the world. 

The move comes as Ryanair announced on Tuesday it would restore 40% of its flights from July. The Irish low-cost carrier has been running a skeleton service since mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic grounded planes around the world.

Following the flight ban, Air Malta offered its passengers four options - a full refund, booking a new trip within a year, booking the same flight when they are ready to travel again and getting a travel voucher.

Meanwhile, Malta is one of 12 member states that called on the European Commission to suspend the EU’s flight refund laws as airlines struggled to survive the outbreak that brought travel to a grinding halt.