New national airline to be set up by end of year

A new national airline will be set up by the end of the year, replacing Air Malta, the airline’s chairman David Curmi said.

In comments to Times of Malta, Curmi said that the transition to the new airline will be “seamless” for passengers.

The creation of the new airline was in the final phase, as were discussions with the European Commission, which rejected a request by the government to inject €300 million to save the national carrier.

“We created a five-year business plan and we are close to concluding on that. If we stick to his plan, then we will have a national airline that makes business sense,” Curmi told the newspaper.

Curmi said the target date is the end of this year, with the airline intending to have its own booking platform. “The old company will continue operations until the very end, when the new airline will take over.”

He added that Malta will still have a national airline, and it will not be a low-cost carrier. “We will continue flying to key airports in key cities… The new airline will not be competing on price but on service,” he said.

The 330 employees that remain with Air Malta – whittled down from the 1,000 – will be made redundant but will be free to join the new airline.