Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1260752
18.06.2020 2 NEWS MASSIMO COSTA AIR Malta has set in motion the process to restore its network, with plans to operate to and from 22 des- tinations this summer. After the closure for over three months of Malta International Air- port for commercial operations due to the COVID-19 ban on travel, the national carrier will recommence its summer schedule on 1 July, when the airport reopens, the com- pany said on Wednesday. Air Malta flights to Rome, Lyon and Marseille will now join the previously announced flights to Prague, Catania, Munich, Frank- furt, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Vienna, Zurich, and Geneva, all of which will start from 1 July. As from 15 July, the airline will also start operations to Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, London Heathrow, Lisbon, Madrid, Palermo, Paris Charles De Gaulle and Orly. August will also see Air Malta re- starting flights to/from Manchester. Madrid is a "new" city destination on the list. After a break of over 10 years of not operating to the Span- ish capital, Air Malta will restart scheduled services to the city on 18 July. e announced operations to Luxembourg will now be trans- ferred to Brussels except for the planned flights to Luxembourg on 4 and 11 July which will be operated as scheduled. Air Malta said that flights pric- es (including taxes and charges) will start at €39 one way, and are available online on www.airmalta. com and through all local and for- eign travel agents. Customers whose booked flights will be cancelled by the airline and wish to travel on Air Malta's next available flight can get in touch on +356 25991230, the company said. Customers wishing to travel at a later date can opt for one of two op- tions available on the airline's web- site at www.airmalta.com/informa- tion/keep-your-trip-for-the-future. Air Malta to fly to 22 destinations this summer National carrier will be connecting Malta to 22 European countries this summer, with commercial operations restarting from 1 July AN overview of findings for a percep- tion survey concerning fixed teleph- ony usage in Malta Fieldwork carried out in July to September 2019 found take-up of fixed telephony strongest in the post-paid segment, with the proportion of respondents purchasing their post-paid plan in a bundle rising marginally from 71% in 2017 to 72% in 2019. Around 55% of respondents to the 2019 survey say they are not aware of their monthly expenditure on the fixed telephony service. is is because their bundle subscription makes it difficult for them to apportion their monthly cost by each bundle component. e rise in monthly payments via direct debit may also contribute to the lack of knowledge on monthly ex- penditures. 45.5% say they are aware of their monthly expenditure on the fixed telephony service, with this segment comprising 7.5% saying they spend up to €9.99 per month, 12.2% saying they spend between €10 to €19.99 (up from 11% in 2017), 19.9% saying they spend between €20 to €49.99 (up from 7.0% in 2017) and 5.3% saying they spend €50 or more per month (up from nil in 2017). Knowledge of a one-minute voice call is also low. is is somewhat expect- ed given the availability of voice call allowances in today's fixed telephony plans, especially the unlimited onnet allowances with the purchase of bun- dles that typically include the fixed te- lephony service by default. Amongst the few respondents say- ing they are aware of the cost of a one-minute fixed voice call, 47% find it 'cheap', down by almost half over the previous study. e number of re- spondents that perceived the cost to be expensive stood at 19%, up from just 4% a year earlier, a decline of 14% over the previous study. 86% of all survey respondents saying they have a subscription claim they are satisfied (34%) to very satisfied (52%) with the service. Switching between operators remains low, with 92% of all respondents saying they have not switched operator in the previous two years. More significantly, 50% of re- spondents saying they are not satisfied with their current ser- vice quality also say they did not switch their current pro- vider. Of note is that the majori- ty of those who switched service provider in the previous two years (57%) ported their fixed line number as well. In line with the strong take-up of mobile telephony services and rising usage of OTT-based calling, respondents classify fixed telephony as their least preferred platform for voice calling purposes. Nonetheless, just 29% of those that prefer mobile telephony say they would be ready to terminate their fixed telephony subscription over the next 12 months. EMCS Consulting carried out the survey contacting 852 randomly se- lected households via telephone in- terviews (CATI) on behalf of the MCA. People unaware of telephony costs with rise of direct debit APS Bank recently organised another virtual APS talk, as it continues its ed- ucational programme even during the pandemic. e 14th session from the series of APS talks "Making the planet a better place with the Sustainable Develop- ment Goals", was presented by Dr Alex- andra Mifsud, a lecturer on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Malta and the UK. e talk covered the SDGs, a frame- work encapsulating the 17 key areas to be addressed to help create a world free of poverty and deprivation; a fairer world; that respects natural limits. It provided examples of actions which can be taken in order to live a more sus- tainable lifestyle by balancing social, economic and environmental sustaina- bility. Dr Mifsud commented that, "e SDGs are important as they represent the interlinked 'five Ps' of prosperity, people, planet, partnerships, and peace. ey are the right response to the great challenges of the 21st century." To learn more about the SDGs, watch the recording of this session available on the APS talks channel on YouTube. SDGs discussed during APS virtual talk