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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 12 JUNE 2019 3 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Asked whether the name and colour scheme resembled that of the national airline too closely, O'Leary said it could only add to Air Malta's poten- tial sales. "Ryanair does not fly to Heathrow for example, but Air Malta does. So anyone looking to purchase a flight to London via Ryanair services will then encounter the Mal- tese airline," he said. The new airline will be tak- ing on the 62 routes Ryanair currently operates out of Mal- ta and will be looking to grow its network beyond that. In addition to the aircraft that will be operated by Malta Air, the airline will be regis- tering more than 50 other air- craft to Malta's aircraft regis- ter. Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi insisted that the new airline would compliment Air Malta rather than compete with the national airline as some might think. "The relationship between Ryanair and Malta has evolved into a successful collabora- tion. We welcome Ryanair's commitment to operate and grow a fully-fledged Malta- based airline which will con- tribute in a large way to the country's development," he said. He added that Ryanair will increase its Malta-based fleet to 10 aircrafts within ten years and would contribute to the creation of 350 new jobs. This means that 200 Malta-based crew members will eventually move onto local contracts and will pay local Maltese taxes. Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat said that the new Ryanair Malta-based airline will com- plement the services of Air Malta. "Despite the scaremonger- ing, Air Malta has not just survived but registered its first surplus in two decades. Welcome Malta Air and long live Air Malta," he said. In a statement published fol- lowing the signing, the Civil Aviation Directorate within Transport Malta said Malta Air had been awarded an Air Operator Certificate and an Air Operator License to be- come the 37th airline regis- tered in Malta. The airline will be based in Malta and other countries within the EU. The first aircraft has been registered as B738 S/N 44782 bearing registration marks 9H-QAA. New airline will complement Air Malta - Mizzi Ryaniar CEO Michael O'Leary (left) and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat shake hands after the new airline was presented its Air Operator Certificate KURT SANSONE A rebranding exercise of the National- ist Party media does not appear to have yielded bigger audiences with its radio station being eclipsed by Radju Marija. Net FM had an audience share of 4.9% in March this year, the Broadcasting Authority's audience survey released today shows. Radju Marija, a Christian radio run mostly by volunteers, captured an au- dience share of 5.2%, beating also the church-run RTK that only managed an audience share of 3.7%. But Net FM's fortunes have been on a steady decline since July last year when the BA survey found that the PN radio station had an audience share of 6.9%. An analysis of the surveys carried out by the BA shows that in October 2017 Net FM, then still known as Radio 101, had an audience share of 7.2%. October 2017 is significant because it was the first BA survey to coincide with the PN's new leadership. After Adrian Delia was elected PN leader in September 2017, his campaign ally Pierre Portelli was made chief of the party's media. Net FM's fortunes dipped in Febru- ary 2018, registering an audience share of 5.3%, which it partially recovered by July that year when the party media started to undergo its rebranding. The BA survey of July 2018 found that Net FM had an audience share of 6.9% but from then onwards it has been a steady decline. The PN media has always struggled to increase its audience levels but within the current turmoil facing the party, the latest numbers do not bode well. Audience loyalty The PN radio station also trails Radju Marija when the time spent by audienc- es listening to the station is taken into account. The BA issues a separate set of statis- tics that calculates the average listen- ership based also on the time people spend on the respective stations. According to the BA, Net FM had an average audience share of 7% in March. Radju Marija's average share stood at 7.4% and RTK's at 4.3%. But it is not just the PN's radio station that has experienced decline. The par- ty's television has also been registering dismal audiences. The March survey released today shows Net TV with an audience share of 7.9%, its lowest result since October 2017. The PN media came in for some stern criticism by the party's youth wing in an analysis presented to Secretary General Clyde Puli last week. PL's One commands audience loyalty The situation is direr when one con- siders that the Labour Party's media outlets are performing much stronger. One TV had an audience share of 18.4% in March, more than double that of its political rival. In radio, One had an audience share of 15.8%, placing second after 89.7 Bay, which topped the rankings with 23.8%. However, the PL's media outlets have the benefit of more loyal audiences. The BA findings show that when time spent by audiences is taken into ac- count, One Radio tops the rankings with a share of 24.9%, eclipsing 89.7 Bay. TVM's dominance continues The national broadcaster, TVM had an audience share of 33.4% in March. This drops to 28% when taking into ac- count the time spent by viewers on the station. TVM2, the channel mostly dedicated to sports, had an audience share of 3.9%. But while the national station domi- nates the television scene, its radio sta- tions are individually less successful. Radju Malta, the flagship radio sta- tion, had an audience share of 9.6%, while the music station Magic had a share of 4.9%. Radju Malta 2 trailed with 0.9%. Despite rebranding, PN radio is eclipsed by Radju Marija in audience ratings It went from Radio 101 to Net FM but the Nationalist Party radio station does not appear to have improved its audience ratings • Net FM had an audience share of 4.9% in March • Radju Marija had an audience share of 5.2% • One Radio had an audience share of 15.8%

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