“First of all, congratulations and sincere gratitude to the outgoing president for the significant work carried out. William was instrumental in many areas considering the pressures and challenges faced by the profession,” said Mr Axisa during the meeting

“We will continue building on the work carried out by subsequent MIA presidents throughout recent years. Gone are the days when strategy and direction are modified every two years as soon as a new president is elected,” Mr Axisa added. 

In addition, he highlighted five core pillars underpinning the MIA’s strategy in the coming years:

• ensuring the MIA is home to all qualified accountants;
• elevating quality within the profession;
• working with all stakeholders to enhance the education and qualification process;
• fostering collegiality and comradeship among accountants;
• striving to make the MIA’s voice heard, loud and clear, on issues which are important for the profession but also on national strategic issues.  

“We want to continue conveying this message in a strong manner,” Mr Axisa said ensuring that MIA is “not a club solely for the largest firms. But only fully-qualified accountants should be considered as and actually call themselves accountants,” he added. 

The president promised that they “will continue working with the regulator to push higher up the bar, as we need to strive to do the right thing professionally in all circumstances, even if this entails a cost.”

Therefore, the MIA will continue to strengthen its efforts in the areas of education and qualification processes. The new president acknowledges that the quality and quantity of accountants in the marketplace is a fundamental aspect of the profession. 

Additionally, the MIA promised to dedicate more time and effort to reinforce a sense of collegiality and comradeship among accountants.

Moreover, the MIA welcomed its new members Christian Gravina, Etienne Borg Cardona, Franz R. Wirth, Lucienne Pace Ross, Mark Bugeja, Noel Mizzi and William Spiteri Bailey, who joined Annabel Zammit Pace, Christopher Balzan, David Delicata, Fabio Axisa, Ivan Grixti, Jonathan Dingli, and Shawn Falzon, who are serving their term ending in mid-2020.

The council has also appointed David Delicata as Vice President, Noel Mizzi as Secretary, and Franz R. Wirth as treasurer.

The post Malta Institute of Accountants appoints new president first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

These drops mainly resulted from eco-friendly measures the operator of the airport has recently taken, such as the installation of more efficient sanitation systems and the introduction of energy-saving lighting and air conditioning units, according to the press statement.

The company has also invested more than €1m in photovoltaic panels and is proceeding the process of installation of a new photovoltaic system (PV) on the airport campus, in the past three years. Through the photovoltaic process, light is converted into electricity by using semiconducting materials that exhibit the so-called photovoltaic effect. A PV system utilises solar modules that comprise several solar cells generating electrical power.

“The writing of our sustainability report has become an important annual exercise through which we are better aligning our priorities to our core value of sustainability and the achievement of a healthy triple bottom line,” said Alan Borg, CEO of Malta International Airport. “We believe that we can only consider ourselves to be a responsible organisation if we strive to manage our environmental, social and economic impacts in a way which benefits the community within which we operate.”

At the same time, the company says it prioritised the development and the wellbeing of its employees last year through the provision of over 8,800 hours of mental health training. In addition, MIA invested more than €300,000 in 2018, supporting several projects and initiatives undertaken within the local community.

The post Malta airport lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 12% first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Top contributors to MIA’s growing passenger numbers were the United Kingdom (+1.1%), Italy (+4.1%), Germany (+0.3%), France (+4.3%) and Spain (+15.3%), all of which registered varying levels of growth, according to the press release.

MIA saw an increase of 4.2% in aircraft movements stemming from a summer schedule offering improved connectivity as well.

In addition, seat capacity grew by 5.3%. Airlines operating from Malta International Airport were, therefore, successful in maintaining a healthy seat load factor (SLF) of 80.2% for May, the airport says.

The airport’s two biggest markets are being served by a total of six new routes this summer: Exeter (England), Cardiff (Wales), Perugia, Lamezia, Verona and Genoa (Italy).

The first four routes were launched in April and the first flights from Verona and Genoa by Volotea were announced earlier.

The post MIA pax numbers grow further in April first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Volotea will be operating a weekly service to each one of the two cities during the summer months, with the flight to Verona being offered on Tuesdays and the flight to Genoa being a mid-week one.

Despite the fact that both cities are found in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula and are only a three-hour train ride away from each other, their offering is quite different and is likely to capture the imagination of different holidaymakers, the MIA press statement says.

The post Volotea launches flights from Malta to Verona and Genoa first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Travellers who do their shopping this way from 30 days up to 24 hours prior to their flight departure can skip queues and pick up their order upon payment at the Reserve and Collect priority till on the day of their travels.

“Apart from making pre-flight shopping at Dufry more convenient than ever, the Reserve and Collect scheme automatically grants its users a 10% discount on the bill,” according to the press statement issued by the Malta International Airport (MIA).

Dufry, which is a Swiss-based leading travel retailer, operates in around 2,200 duty-free and duty-paid shops around the world, and recently signed a concession agreement for the operation of Malta International Airport’s duty-free outlet until 2026.

The post MIA’s Dufry adds new ‘Reserve and Collect’ service first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

April’s mean air temperature stood at 15.9°C, somewhat colder than the norm; 16.1°C, according to MIA’s figures. April’s maximum temperature dropped by 0.7°C as compared to the month’s mean maximum temperature of 19.8°C. Meanwhile, the mean minimum remained almost unchanged, warming by 0.2°C compared to the norm of 12.4°C.

MIA statistics suggest that April’s rain was less than usual, with only 15.4mm of precipitation. Some 39% of this was recorded in the first five days.

The islands saw a total of 240.7 sunny hours in April, some 8 hours less than the monthly average. The brightest day of the month was 28 April with 12.5 hours of sunshine.

Saharan dust covered Maltese skies blocking the sun for the most of the month. This often led to “blood showers”, according to the MIA press release.

The islands also received heavier winds than usual with mean speeds of 10.3 knots (approximately 19 km/h) throughout April; 0.8 knots (1.4 km/h) stronger than the usual.

The post April in Malta sees less sun and cooler temperatures first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

MIA’s aviation (+11.1%) and non-aviation (+14.1%) segments both registered growth, with the improvement of the former being largely driven by a 13.2% increase in passenger traffic. In line with the hub’s diversification strategy, the company’s non-aviation activities also delivered positive results, contributing 28.9% to total revenues for the year, said the press statement sent to BM.

“Malta International Airport’s double-digit traffic increase for 2018 outpaced the average growth of its European peer group. However, this result did not come at the expense of service quality. In fact, in 2018 we were awarded the Best Airport in Europe title, in recognition of the great airport experience we provided our guests with,” Nikolaus Gretzmacher, Chairman of Malta International Airport, said in his opening address.

Mr Gretzmacher said that while figures speak for themselves, it must be acknowledged that they are the “result of ongoing work and tireless commitment, as well as close collaborations with key stakeholders, especially government when it comes to traffic development”.

Alan Borg, Chief Executive Officer of Malta International Airport, further elaborated on the companies performance, taking the floor after the chairman. Mr Borg highlighted that Malta International Airport is set to close off 2019 with another traffic milestone of 7.2 million passenger movements and with plans in hand for a number of infrastructural projects.

“The approval of our master plan was a very important development in 2018 and, together with our solid financial position, it will enable us to continue investing in the airport campus in its entirety over the long term, helping us honour our commitment of keeping the momentum of improvement going,” said Mr Borg, while noting that in 2019 alone the company’s investments will total over €20m.

The post Malta airport’s profits rise 25.6% to €30.3m in 2018 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“For the sake of clarity, AirHelp is an air passenger rights specialist, which aids travellers in getting compensation from airlines following a disrupted flight. Their score considers the following factors in assessing an airport’s performance: On-time Performance (weighing 60%), Service Quality (weighing 20%) and Food and Shops (weighing 20%),” the statement MIA sent on BM’s query to comment on AirHelp’s finding starts.

“Unfortunately, MIA’s ranking was significantly affected by its score for ‘On-Time Performance’. While we acknowledge that flight disruptions do negatively affect the overall travel experience, the most common causes of disruption (including weather, strikes, technical issues, and the domino effect these create) are largely outside Malta International Airport’s control and are a frequent occurrence which every airport actively works to mitigate in its day-to-day operations,” the MIA statement says.

Malta International Airport received an average AirHelp score of 6.05 out of 10 maximum, according to the latest findings of AirHelp. MIA received a score of 5 on “on-time performance”, a score of 7.7 on “service quality” and a score of 7.5 on “food and shops”. The full methodology of their scoring is available for public view. Out of 132 airports the organisation includes on its list, the Maltese airport scored as the 128th.

“As a company, our key focus is on driving service quality within the terminal and on the improvement of our facilities on the ground. These efforts have been consistently recognised by more than one certified airport ranking authority over the years, whose data is collected, qualified and audited by passengers who have visited Malta International Airport,” the MIA statement says.

“In fact, MIA has featured among the top five airports within its category of the Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality Survey for the last ten years, having received the coveted ‘Best Airport in Europe’ award in 2018,” the statement concludes.

Recently, MIA was listed among the top ten airports worldwide in 2019 by Skytrax in its size category, being the only airport from the European Union that made to the list. MIA was also named among the winners of Airport Council International’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards by receiving the title “Best Airport in Europe” in its size category in 2018.

On-time performance of elevated importance

MIA’s overall score was dragged down by to the “on-time performance” factor, which weighs 60% of all for a reason, according to a statement sent to Business Malta by AirHelp when asked to elaborate on the ratios.

“In this case, the Malta International Airport’s score seems to have been affected by on-time performance. The reason why this variable carries a slightly larger weight than the others is because we have found that on-time performance is the variable passengers care about the most. It is good to see if passengers can enjoy good services and sufficient shopping options at the airport; however, the most important function of the airport is to serve passengers’ travelling needs,” Ariel Wu, Junior Communications Coordinator at AirHelp says in the statement.

AirHelp says it agrees with MIA that on-time performance is not solely the airport’s responsibility, however, AirHelp stresses that airports can have a very large impact. “In addition, passengers have the right to be aware of what their experience at the airport will be — not only in terms of their shopping and eating options but also whether they can expect to be on time, which is what they care about the most,” Ms Wu tells BM.

While AirHelp regrets the disappointment of the Maltese hub, they acknowledge the good scores the airport received on the other two variables. “We are very sorry to learn that MIA is disappointed with the result, but we hope that airports can use the AirHelp Score as a tool to better understand their travellers’ pain points. Similarly to airports, we want passengers to get the best experience possible — both in the air and on the ground. At the same time, we are glad to see MIA scored well with good services and shopping options. We look forward to MIA’s improvement of on-time performance as well as the ranking next year,” the communications coordinator adds.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Business Malta reached out to AirHelp to understand the rationale behind the gravity of their on-time performance variable. The present story was updated with AirHelp’s insight on Friday, 17 May 2019.

The post AirHelp ranking disappoints Malta International Airport first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Malta International Airport received an average AirHelp score of 6.05 out of 10 maximum, according to the latest findings of the organisation. MIA received a score of 5 on “on-time performance”, a score of 7.7 on “service quality” and a score of 7.5 on “food and shops”. The full methodology of their scoring is available for public view.

AirHelp says it calculates its score based on on-time performance statistics for every airport, and by asking “thousands of people from around the world” about customer service and to rate airports’ eating and shopping options.

Out of 132 airports the organisation includes on its list, Malta scored as the 128th, finishing slightly above the worst Lisbon Portela Airport, which received an average score of 5.77. The best airport named was Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar with an average of 8.39.

AirHelp is an air passenger rights organisation, aimed at helping travellers get the compensation following disrupted flight. The organisation has operations in over 30 countries and claims to have helped more than 10 million travellers in the past six years.

Nevertheless, recently MIA was listed among the top ten airports worldwide in 2019 by Skytrax in its size category, being the only airport from the European Union that made to the list. MIA was also named among the winners of Airport Council International’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards by receiving the title “Best Airport in Europe” in its size category in 2018.

The post AirHelp ranks Malta airport among ten worst hubs first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The airport recorded a total of 653,100 passenger movements in April, in parallel with 4,554 aircraft movements. Traffic peaked on the 18 April with over 26,500 movements, fuelled by the Easter holidays.

MIA says that its new summer schedule contributed to an increase of 6.3% in seat capacity, and seat load factor (SLF) in April grew by 3.2 percentage points to 83.3%.

The airport’s top drivers of passenger traffic remained unchanged from the previous month: the United Kingdom (+7.4%), Italy (+6.8%), Germany (+14.4%), France (+14.5%) and Spain (+13.5%), according to figures by the airport.

The post Malta airport’s traffic grows by 10.5% in April first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.