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3 NEWS 16.3.2023 RYANAIR'S Malta summer schedule will cover 66 routes, including four new ones and increased frequencies on more than 20 others, the company said on Wednesday. is is the low-cost airline's biggest ever schedule for Malta and will see more than 470 weekly flights, a 26% growth over last year. e four new destinations are Baden and Memmingen in Germany, East Mid- lands in the UK and Stockholm in Swe- den. e airline will also increase frequen- cies on a score of other routes, including Ciampino, Catania and Milan in Italy, Valencia and Barcelona in Spain and Vi- enna in Austria. Ryanair carries an average of 3.5 mil- lion passengers every year to and from Malta and has six aircraft based on the island, operating under the subsidiary Malta Air. David O'Brien, CEO Malta Air, said the airline will be offering Maltese residents and visitors to the islands more choice for their summer holidays "at the lowest fares in Europe". "e introduction of new routes further demonstrates Ryanair's commitment to support inbound tourism from key mar- kets and offer the Maltese improved con- nectivity across Europe," he said. He added that the 2023 schedule is un- derpinned by Ryanair's six Malta-based aircraft, which he described as "a $600 million (€563m) investment" that is supporting over 3,000 local jobs includ- ing pilot, cabin crew and engineering jobs. "Ryanair continues to deliver more growth and lower fares than any other airline in Malta and Europe," O'Brien said. Malta Tourism Authority CEO Carlo Micallef said Malta was looking forward to an even stronger recovery this year after hitting 2.3 million arrivals in 2022. "We should be getting very close to 2019 record results," he said. e recovery is underpinned, Micallef added, by strong airline capacity increas- es both in terms of numbers of routes and in terms of frequencies. "Ryanair and its Maltese subsidiary Malta Air are important contributors to this surge in airline connectivity and the announcement of their summer 2023 schedule is testament to their faith in the re-growing of Malta's important tourism industry," Micallef said. Bookings for the summer routes have opened on Ryanair.com, with the airline offering a limited time promotion with seats starting from €29.99. Ryanair adds four new routes this summer for biggest ever schedule Low-cost airline Ryanair, operating through its subsidiary Malta Air, will operate 66 routes between April and October • New routes to Baden, Memmingen, East Midlands and Stockholm David O'Brien, CEO Malta Air, (left) with Malta Tourism Authority CEO Carlo Micallef FROM PAGE 1 e sources said that - bar some extraordinary late-min- ute development - everything points to the government declaring the national air- line bankrupt and shutting it down, after setting up a new company to take over. But the final decision has been postponed to after the summer so as not disrupt trav- el plans by Maltese and tour- ists. Plans for the new airline are at an advanced stage, despite the strong increase in pas- senger numbers by Air Malta month on month in 2022. e Maltese government is currently in negotiations with the European Commission over the prospects of future state aid for the ailing nation- al airline, although a positive outcome seems unlikely. e alternative company would be necessary to retain Malta's connectivity with the rest of Europe, without de- pending on third-party air- lines. e new airline would be re- built from scratch. "e plan will mean a more streamlined and efficient company run on strictly commercial lines," a sources said, suggesting a more cut- throat approach to the busi- ness of running the govern- ment-owned airline. It would also mean new conditions of employment in which employees, most no- tably airline pilots, will be expected to mirror the same conditions as in rival and com- peting airlines in terms of fly- ing hours. e new airline will of course have to be run without state aid and will therefore not be able to retain Air Malta's orig- inal role of providing alter- native routes that might have been not entirely commercial- ly viable but very convenient for Maltese passengers. In 2022, finance minister Clyde Caruana in 2022 had already said that Air Malta re- quired a capital injection "but when and how this will hap- pen depends on the decision the European Commission will make." A year earlier, he warned that without the green light from Brussels, "Air Malta will not live. It will just have weeks to live." Plans in place to replace Air Malta despite strong 2022 numbers In 2021, finance minister Clyde Caruana warned that without the green light from Brussels, "Air Malta will not live. It will just have weeks to live."

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