Air Malta said on Wednesday a series of cancelled flights at Munich was to blame for the delay in the delivery of 32 bags that remain at the German airport one week since their owners returned to Malta. 

The national airline said in a statement that the issue of undelivered bags for December 14's flight KM307 was "totally unconnected" to the ground-handling operations at Malta International Airport.

As of December 14, Munich airport suffered a series of weather events including heavy snowfall, freezing rain and freezing fog over the course of three days, resulting in the cancellation of countless flights and thousands of passengers being stranded, Air Malta said.

When flights resumed, numerous aircraft departed with passengers but no baggage was loaded due to the resulting backlog.

The peak number of bags left behind at Munich airport was estimated at 23,000 pieces.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the handler at Munich airport apologised for the situation just before Christmas and said it was currently impossible to deal with requests from airlines to search for specific bags.

They are working through the backlog methodically and doing their utmost to ensure that all bags are delivered to their destinations.

Like many other flights, KM307 from Munich to Malta had been cancelled and rescheduled for the following morning.

Around 32 bags belonging to passengers who were travelling on this flight did not arrive in Malta.

Air Malta said it was doing its utmost and working closely with Deutsche Lufthansa AG to ensure that the reported lost bags were returned safely to Malta, but "this process could take some time due to the extent of the disruption at Munich airport".

It apologised for the inconvenience to passengers owing to this "extraordinary circumstance beyond its control".

Just last week Air Malta warned its customers they were likely to experience delays in the foreseeable future as the national airline outsources its baggage handling service.  

The statement came after Air Malta started outsourcing its ground handling services to Aviation Services Handling Limited as a cost-cutting measure.  

The government is attempting to push through several other cost-cutting measures to save the wayward airline, also involving cabin crew. 

Malta has also asked Brussels for permission to pump €290 million into the national airline.