Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/542972
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 JULY 2015 4 News CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 This will be the third time that Air Malta will be moving its headquarters. It first started operat- ing from the Europa Centre in Floriana, before moving to the Luqa offices in the late 1970s. It had sold these offices to the government in a €66.2 million deal in 2012 as part of an extensive restructuring plan. The Air Malta spokesperson confirmed that the deal also included the sale of Mal- ta's old airport terminal, now serving as a cargo terminal. Air Malta also sold a piece of land in Pem- broke to Transport Malta for €3 million in 2013 and the government has announced intentions to buy the airline's shuttered Selmun Palace Hotel. Air Malta's spokes- person confirmed that the engineering department, in Luqa, is the airline's last remaining property. Air Malta is in the final year of a five- year restructuring plan that the previous government had agreed with the European Commission in 2012 in return for its ap- proval of around €130 million in state aid. The carrier was forced to trim its staff, reduce its number of operating planes, and cut capacity. Yet it has fallen way short of its restructuring targets, register- ing a €16 million loss for the year ending March 2014 when it was supposed to have reached profitability. Air Malta's chairperson, Maria Micallef, and Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis just days ago travelled to Beijing to discuss "issues of collaboration" concern- ing the national airline. Zammit Lewis has said that talks to bring in a "strategic part- ner" for Air Malta have reached a "criti- cal" stage, but both he and the airline have declined to give any further details about the China visit. Upon being appointed chairperson last year, Micallef declared that the airline was trying to cut costs across the board in a bid to bring a forecast €25 million in losses for March 2015, down to €16 million. Micallef had said that unless the airline rethinks its business model it will not achieve sustainability. "We need to get out of restructuring mode and start thinking of long-term sustainability beyond 2016. We will need the economies of scale that we can never achieve with our size," she said. In March, Zammit Lewis confirmed that the airline was on course to make a €15 million loss for this year, adding, "that would mean that the target agreed with the EU Commission to make the company viable would have to be met in the follow- ing 12-month period, by March of next year." He went on to warn that "failure to meet this deadline would mean that the govern- ment would no longer be allowed to give the airline state aid to cover for its losses." Audited figures announced during Air Malta AGM in October showed that the airline posted a loss of €16 million for the year ending March 2014, compared to €31 million registered during the financial year ending March 2013. In 2012 the airline halved its losses to €40 million but then in the year ending March 2013, its losses were €30 million rather than the €15 million it targeted; and this year when Air Malta was expected to breakeven it registered losses of €16.2 mil- lion. In its fourth year, the European Commis- sion's €230 million restructuring plan for Air Malta was meant to bring Air Malta's deficit under control. Under the restructuring plan mandated by the European Commission, Air Malta managed to stabilise and reduce its oper- ating losses for two consecutive years after it had halved its workforce. But amidst increasing competition and the suspension of the Libya route – one of Air Malta's most profitable routes – the airline's revenues are under pressure. Last year, Air Malta had been directly hit by the closure of the Libyan routes (losing the airline around €1 million per month, including incremental revenue from transit business) and a 20% increase in seat capacity of other airlines in the peak months. tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt Air Malta seeking all ways of trimming fat Air Malta is trying to cut costs across the board in a bid to bring a forecast €25 million in losses for March 2015, down to €16 million Over €70,000 collected in 'Ohloq Tbissima' marathon MORE than €70,000 were col- lected in the 13th edition of the televised 'Ohloq Tbissima' mara- thon in aid of missions supported by the Missionary Society of St Paul (MSSP) by 10pm yesterday. The donations collected are in aid of MSSP missions at St Joseph Home in Sta Venera, the Philip- pines, Peru and Pakistan. Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat, his wife Michelle, PN deputy leader Mario de Marco and shad- ow social policy minister Paula Mifsud Bonnici visited the mara- thon yesterday. The activity kicked off at St Joseph Home in Sta Venera on Friday at noon and will carry on uninterrupted until midnight to- night. Anyone wishing to make a do- nation may do so by calling 5160 2004 (€10), 5170 2007 (€15) or 5180 2009 (€25), or by sending an SMS on 5061 8099 (€4.66). Donations may also be made on- line at www.ohloqtbissima.com. Air Malta registered a €15 million loss for the year ending March 2015