Two Ryanair aircraft touched down at Malta International Airport within 20 minutes from each other last night, marking the beginning of the low-cost airline's association with the island.
The 184 passengers on board flight FR9992 from Pisa landed at 8.40 p.m. followed by a full plane-load from Luton. Ryanair planes seat 189.
The 373 passengers were given an unusual welcome as the Arrivals Lounge hosted the nearest one can get to a small village festa, complete with a band and red-clad dancers. On the initiative of the Malta Tourism Authority, female passengers were handed a carnation and the males received small honey rings.
The Pisa flight pilot, Jonas Persson, was greeted by Malta International Airport chief executive officer Peter Bolech as purser Martha Albertino was handed a bouquet of yellow flowers.
Capt. Persson, a Swedish pilot based in Pisa and who has been working with Ryanair for the past six years, expressed his belief that the Pisa route would be very successful. Although many people from that part of Italy wanted to come to Malta, connections were not always convenient, he said.
About half an hour after the planes had landed they took to the skies again, taking 128 passengers to Pisa and 179 to Luton.
Contacted by The Times, Bridget Dowling, Ryanair's sales and marketing manager for southern Europe, described these numbers as very good for a first flight. Inbound traffic to Malta was looking very promising, she said.
Europe's main budget airline is expected to launch its summer 2007 schedule in two weeks' time. It is also expected to introduce electronic boarding cards for the Malta route early next year.
Philip Lingard, who had acted as an intermediary during negotiations between Ryanair and the government, expressed Ryanair's belief that the island is underserved, adding that the airline wanted to develop a short-stay market. He pointed out that 40 per cent of bed nights in most Mediterranean destinations were taken up by short-break visitors.
He confirmed that discussions were underway between Ryanair and the Maltese authorities regarding fiscal incentives for four new destinations - Spain, Sweden, Norway and Poland - announced on Monday.
Mr Lingard said Ryanair would like to have a base in Malta.
The low-cost airline will be operating daily flights to Luton and three flights a week to Pisa and Dublin. Flights to Ireland's capital are expected to start in February. In September Ryanair included the three Malta routes to its seat sale during which it made more than four million seats to all its destinations available at the cost of one euro cent.