Air Malta, the flag carrier of Malta, will cease operations by the end of 2023 in a government plan to shut down the debt-ridden airline and create a new flag carrier.
Report: Air Malta Will Cease Operations By End Of 2023
The European Commission rejected the Maltese Government’s request to infuse more funding into the beleaguered carrier, resulting in Malta’s decision to shut down the state-run carrier at an unspecified point later in 2023.
While the Maltese Government hopes to create a seamless transition from the old carrier to the new one and utilize least some of the same aircraft (sort of like how Alitalia became ITA Airways in Italy with the flip of a switch), all employees will reportedly be made redundant and be forced to apply for their positions again.
While severance packages would theoretically be due, there is some thought that by declaring bankruptcy Air Malta will be released from that obligation, though it almost seems like a “six of one half a dozen of the other” situation if taxpayer-backed Air Malta shifts its severance obligations to Maltese taxpayers.
A colleague recently flew Air Malta from London to Malta in business class and raved about the excellent service and delicious food onboard:
I’ve flown Air Malta in the past as well, though only in economy class.
It is a shame that the carrier could not make it and to be quite candid, I am not sure how a resurrected flag carrier will be any different. Even lower wages for workers? The problem, it seems to me, is that Malta Air (a joint operation of Ryanair and the government of Malta) has balkanized the market for full-service Air Malta.
There’s a parallel issue here. Air Malta paid €2.4 million for “consultancy” to Knighthood Global Limited, a company run by former Etihad CEO James Hogan and CFO James Rigney. There are questions as to what that money went toward and both Air Malta and the government have refused to comment.
CONCLUSION
Air Malta plans to cease operations by the end of 2023. This marks the culmination of years of loss for the Maltese flag carrier. A new carrier will take its place, though details are not yet know.
top image: Mark Harkin / Flickr
Suppliers will be running for cover…refusing to provide any service, fuel, or parts without pre-payment. Air Malta will be out of business before the end of the year…no matter what the Maltese government says.
I flew them once from FCO-MLA and the boarding process was the biggest clusterf*ck of any airline I’ve ever flown.
Always begs the question of why countries need a “flag” carrier. Malta is a tiny place; I’ve been there and it’s really nice but plenty of other carriers can service it.
James Hogan…well, that’s money well spent.
Yeah, that was my thought too. They could have just burned it.
Regarding James Hogan, what’s the opposite of having the ‘Midas Touch’?
I thought it was just called the “James Hogan Touch”. Is there another term I haven’t heard of? 🙂
We bought tickets on Air Malta for September flight from AMS… what recourse do we have and should we be proactive in some way?
Customers who will not be travelling within the next 48 hours and scheduled to travel by the 31st of May that require refunds can send an email to refundrequest@airmalta.com.
Anybody could become the Maltese flag carrier so long as they’re willing to invest €750,000.
I can see the need to have someone being subsidised to guarantee connectivity during the winter months, but that can be done with some Public Service Obligation tendering operated by an airline like Air Baltic, Cityjet, or even Olympic (to provide competition to Italian connections through opening up options via ATH).