Air Malta will reduce frequency on some of its routes in January and February following a "dramatic" downturn in demand, but has pledged to retain all its existing routes.

The airline said it had suffered the dip in demand in recent weeks, a reference to a drop in bookings as the Omicron variant pushes up the number of COVID-19 cases and disrupts travel.

Air Malta executive chairman, David Curmi said in a statement that decisions were being taken to match customer demand and avoid flying near-empty aircraft. Such assessments were ongoing and would continue until demand returns to healthy levels.

"In these situations, we need to be very agile and financially disciplined to be able to adjust seat capacity and focus on efficiency to protect our liquidity and cash performance. Given the unprecedented times we are living in and the challenges that Air Malta is facing, we are continuously optimising our network for profitability and liquidity, and we plan to continue to do so without compromises.” he said.

The airline did not specify which routes would be impacted by flight cancellations or explain what advance notice booked passengers would be given of cancelled flights.