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Malta earns a substantial amount of monies from its flight information region, the same area that constitutes the island’s search and rescue region. Its expansiveness is in fact the reason why Malta earns over Lm3 million every year from aircraft passing through the FIR.
In 2004, Malta earned over Lm3.4 million though the FIR. Between 2000 and 2004, Malta received close to Lm17 million in revenue from the FIR.
Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg had proposed to reduce the area by some 70 per cent in a bid to reduce the burdens of irregular migration. Malta is responsible for an area of over 250,000 square km, from the tip of Tunisia to Crete, in which it is obliged to search and rescue ships in distress.
MaltaToday had reported back in October 2005 that the majority of ministers were against the idea. Politically it is considered the proposal would put Malta in a bad light, as well as leading to the loss in Malta’s annual revenue from the FIR.
Some ministers however argue the vast search and rescue region is proving to be a liability, outweighing the benefits of the revenue coming from the skies.
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