Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/394213
10 Business Today The cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2015 is expected to be of €1.16 per week, the lowest it has been since 2011, according to media reports. Budget 2014 had seen a substantial increase of €3.49 per week. The social partners say COLA increase is low because of low inflation and four consecutive months of deflation. The COLA binds private employers to make the necessary inflationary increases to salaries, guaranteeing a standard wage increase and also keeping industrial peace. In spite of employers' continuous lobbying to abolish COLA, the mechanism may have been one of the factors that made wages in the Maltese private sector stable. A report by industrial relations expert Saviour Rizzo to the European Industrial Relations Observatory shows that over the last four years, the mean hourly labour cost in Malta went up by 9.3% to €12.30. But this rate remains far below the mean hourly rate of €23 in the EU, and €28 per hour in the eurozone. According to Rizzo this means that the mandatory annual wage increase based on the COLA mechanism, about which the European Commission had expressed a measure of alarm, has not caused "a surge in wages in Malta compared to the other European countries." The European Commission has repeatedly told the Maltese government it should desist from tagging the COLA increase to inflationary movements, and instead award the mandatory salary increase only when there are productivity gains. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2014 Malta airport registers 2.4% increase in traffic September figures confirm increase in traffic despite closure of Libyan airspace Malta International Airport reg- istered a 2.4 per cent increase in traffic last month, hosting a total of 463,215 passengers. The growth is seen in light of the closure of the Libyan airspace since mid-July, which has resulted in a passenger drop within this market. "These figures are a great follow- up to the half a million passengers we hosted in August, the airport's best month ever recorded. We are pleased to see the airport continue performing steadily," said Markus Klaushofer, Chief Executive Officer at the Malta International Airport. During September, the total number of landings and take-offs at the airport increased by 0.9 per cent to 3,199 while the number of people who could be flown to and from Malta (seat capacity) grew marginally by 1.1 per cent to 540,423. France was the market to register the largest growth at 11.1 per cent, thanks to increased demand on the Paris route. Traffic from Italy and UK grew by 8.9 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, Spain and Germany saw a decrease of 11 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively. In the case of the latter, it is to be noted that when compared to September last year, September 2014 had one less turnaround of TUI Cruises, one on each of the four Sundays, as opposed to the five Sundays which fell in September 2013. Between January and September this year, Malta International Airport saw an increase of 7.2 per cent when compared to last year's figures, hosting a total of 3,385,808 passengers so far this year. The maximum take-off weight increased by 0.4 per cent and cargo mail increased by a healthy 7.9 per cent. Melita completes bonds repayment Melita has completed the full repayment of the nominal value and final interest due on its Melita Capi- tal Plc 7.15% bonds 2014-2016. B o n d h o l d e r s who appeared on the register of bondholders as at close of business on September 15, 2014 received their payments by means of direct credit to the bondholders' bank account. The bonds were redeemed following a resolution of the board of directors of Melita Capital Plc and last traded September 10, 2014. "Once again we would like to thank all bondholders for the support shown through their respective investment in the Melita Capital Plc bonds. The bondholders' support has helped our organisation to invest in infrastructure and services that offer more value and more possibilities to our customers," Andrei Torriani, CEO of the Melita Group, said. Proceeds from the successful bonds issue in 2009 were used towards further growth in mobile services and broadband infrastructure for the Melita Group. Earlier Melita also announced that as part of its refinancing process the group of companies is consolidating and simplifying its corporate structure. Melita Mobile Ltd, Melita Infrastructure Ltd and Melita Plc are now consolidated into one entity – Melita PLC. The resulting simpler group structure will enable the group to achieve a more financially agile and operationally efficient organization and position the group to continue with its execution of an ambitious growth strategy. COLA increase set to be €1.16 per week