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14.05.2020 5 NEWS CHAMBER OF SMES DEPUTY PRESIDENT ON FUTURE OF NATIONAL AIRLINE: 'Coronavirus presents opportunity for bold decisions about Air Malta' MASSIMO COSTA AS airlines around the world limit their destinations in an effort to mit- igate with the impact of the coronavirus on travel, Air Malta has a golden opportunity to fill in the gaps in flight links to Malta, therefore helping the tourism industry to revive, Chamber of SMEs deputy president Phil- ip Fenech has said. In comments to Busi- nessToday on Wednes- day, Fenech said that, should the national car- rier not be in a position to fill this gap due to the issues it has been facing, difficult decisions would have to be taken to ensure Malta did not lose out on the chance to capitalise on other airline's retrenchment plans. Fenech said that many of the 32 foreign airlines which serve the Maltese air- port have been decreasing their flights worldwide, with Malta already hit by a reduction in connections. While some airlines will continue serving Malta when global travel re- strictions are lifted, others will choose to temporarily stop their flights to the island and instead turn to destinations which are more likely to serve their load capacities. "Some airlines will choose other plac- es to fly to when flight restrictions are lifted, and will only come back to Mal- ta when demand starts growing again," he said, underlining Malta International Airport CEO Alan Borg's recent warn- ing that tourism would not return to its 2019 figures before at least 2023. "When Malta switches its tourism sec- tor back on, the island won't have the same international linkages which it previously had. ere won't be enough flights operating to Malta to bring in the 2.7 million tour- ists which were previous- ly visiting the country, and which are needed to maintain business levels in the sector," Fenech said. He pointed out that Air Malta had to thus increase its mar- ket share by providing connections to those destinations which were normally served by other airlines. is would be necessary to ensure that tourists are brought to Malta, which in turn would be essential to successfully reignite the engines of the hospitality and catering industries, that would otherwise risk a situation of overcapacity due to the limited local de- mand. And, if the national airline is not ca- pable of doing so, the government must take the necessary decisions to ensure tourism is safeguarded, including by considering starting a new company which would replace Air Malta in its current form. "Due to the burdens Air Malta is carry- ing, and although a lot of effort has been put in its restructuring, it still isn't effi- cient enough to act swiftly in this cur- rent scenario." e government, Fenech noted, al- ready had the required structure in place, in the form of Malta MedAir - which owns landing slots and has an operating license - to start airline oper- ations. Malta MedAir, which was set up in 2018, owns Air Malta's landing rights at major airports. In July last year, former tourism minis- ter Konrad Mizzi had said that the gov- ernment-owned Malta MedAir could step in and take over Air Malta's growth plan if issues involving the national car- rier are not solved. "If an airline company is started from scratch, it can have a new, strong and lean cost-base to seize this golden op- portunity. is could launch a new Air Malta on a stronger footing, which will not only help the airline itself, but also aid the Maltese economy in general, not least by limit- ing the excess capacity in hotels, restaurants and the multitude of tour- ism services, which the country will have to deal with before tourism picks up again." Fenech suggested that there are different ways of how the gov- ernment could set up the new company. One could be in partnership with the private sector, namely top tourism industry players, as well as with the public. is would also allow tourism industry insiders with vast experience in the field to lend their support. Moreover, by making the compa- ny publicly listed, the Maltese people would also play a role in backing their country's own airline. "is is a great chance for Malta's busi- nesses to recover at a faster rate by hav- ing a national airline fill in the interim period until tourism completely picks up in 2023. It will also position Air Mal- ta for a good future in the long-term," he added. EC's proposes safe corridors for air travel Fenech's comments come as the EU yesterday unveiled a plan to reopen its internal borders. e European Commission is propos- ing an approach whereby travel restric- tions are lifted in phases, starting with those "between areas or member states with sufficiently similar epidemiological situations." is would see the creation of "safe corridors" within which people from countries which have managed COVID-19 suc- cessfully - such as Mal- ta - can travel to other destinations in which the virus has also been well-controlled. MIA's reaction In comments to BusinessToday follow- ing the EC's announce- men, MIA CEO Alan Borg said the company welcomed the Europe- an Commission's guid- ance to safely resume travel and reboot tourism, since it aims to create a com- mon, transparent, and non-discrimina- tory framework. "We also agree with the 3-phased ap- proach to lifting the current restrictions in a gradual and cautious manner. We understand that the EC is soon to pro- vide more details, such as the dedicat- ed website with an interactive map," he said. "e national public health authorities now need to focus on their country's re- spective preparedness to implement the EC's guidance." Philip Fenech Alan Borg THE Trident Group has announced an improved profitability in operations in its results for the year ended 31 January 2020. Group turnover increased 7% to reach €1,152,000 over the comparative period last year and operating profit for the Group increased 68% from €288,000 to €484,000. e Group posted a net profit of €74,000 for the financial year ending 31 January 2020, compared to €775,000 recorded for the previous financial year. No fair value gains on investment property were record- ed during the financial year under review compared to €803,000 last year. Works on the Trident Park project pro- gressed significantly during the year. e process to regenerate one of Malta's finest 20th century industrial buildings contin- ued at a good pace. e quality of the design of the Trident Park project, not least its outstanding en- vironmental credentials and the unique campus style offering will result in the fin- ished development having competitive ad- vantage as and when the market recovers from the dislocation being caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic. "For these reasons and given the strong funding model in place, the Board has elected to push ahead with the earliest completion possible which is now targeted to be the first half of 2021" CEO Charles Xuereb said. Company chairman, Louis Farrugia said that in the long-term interest of the busi- ness the Board decided that it would not be appropriate to declare a dividend at this stage. "e situation will be kept un- der careful review and shareholders were assured that dividend distributions will be resumed immediately it is judged prudent to do so," he said. Trident Group operations register improved profitability Trident Park project progressed significantly during the year

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