Former BOV and Air Malta chair Joseph N. Tabone passes away

Businessman Joseph N. Tabone more popularly known for the chairmanship roles he occupied at Air Malta and Bank of Valletta has died at the age of 92.

An accountant by profession, Tabone had captained the part-privatisation of Bank of Valletta in 1992. This was the first public entity to be listed on the Malta Stock Exchange in an exercise then referred to as popularisation.

Tabone was then appointed by the government as chair of the national airline, which underwent a facelift.

However, Tabone’s name was forever linked to the ill-fated decision at Air Malta to buy several Avro RJ 70s in a bid to offer a regional service across the Mediterranean and the setting up of subsidiary airline AzzurAir. Both ventures went belly up, leaving the national airline in debt.

Tabone started his career as a manager in the finance department at the Rediffusion – a cable radio broadcaster then run by the British colonialists. He then went on to set up his own accountancy firm.

In 1987, upon the change in government, Tabone was appointed chair of Bank of Valletta before moving to Air Malta five years later.

He left the airline in 1996 upon a change in government and proceeded to set up his own insurance company, Citadel.

Tabone was president of the Chamber of Commerce between 1985 and 1990, and also served as president of the Malta Institute of Accountants.

Tabone was married to Giorgia and they had three children.

His daughter, Theresa, described her father in a Facebook post as a “man with an impressive personality and charisma, a strong will and the utmost integrity.”

A long-time work colleague of Tabone at Rediffusion, BOV and later Air Malta, John Saliba, paid tribute to the man who always showed him respect. “He had the courage to take me on despite having different [political] opinions,” Saliba said.

Paying tribute to Tabone’s hardworking character, he added: “He infected me with his belief that work has to be done well to the best of our ability… and always be prepared for hard work.”