Air Malta state aid request to be formalised by end of March

Maltese government will be formalising a state aid request with the European Union by end of March this year, in the hopes of obtaining a financial lifeline for Air Malta.

In response to a parliamentary question, Clyde Caruana explained that the first financial aid request by Maltese government was made in November 2020. Throughout the following month, the EU answered back informally with questions of their own.

"The formal request from the Maltese Government to the European Union is expected to be made by the end of March this year. Meanwhile the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union allows Governments to provide aid to remedy the damage caused by natural disasters or other extraordinary events and the pandemic is being considered as an extraordinary event that has caused serious economic disturbance."

Earlier this month, Caruana had told newspaper Illum that the airline is losing some €170,000 every day in operational losses, to the tune of €62 million for the entire year.

“Air Malta is in a pitiful state,” Caruana said. “If before the pandemic the airline was already in a state of unhappiness, as it were, now it is has become pitiful.”

He had warned that, without the financial boost from government, AirMalta will have "weeks to live".

Caruana gathered a group of foreign experts to assist in presenting a technical report to the European Commission to help obtain the greenlight to advance state aid for Air Malta.

He said that such aid would run into the millions in the first year alone, but he said that an "honest and credible" justification will be given for the cash.