Ryanair deputy chief says low-fares giant not competing with Air Malta

Ryanair’s vice-president Michael Cawley has insisted the low-fares giant “is not competing” with Air Malta, as a the national airline faces its toughest time ever with a restructuring programme that will seriously rationalize its operations.

The chief operations officer rubbished claims in the Ernst & Young report on Air Malta, which note the effects that subsidised landing charges for low-cost carriers like Ryanair and Easyjet have had on the airline. “If Alitalia survived, then anybody can,” Cawley said. “It’s all about changing your operating model... It's absolute rubbish and not worth the money E&Y are being paid."

The introduction of the low-fares airlines, which enjoy heavy subsidies from Maltese taxpayers thanks to the ‘route-support scheme’, is affording them lower landing charges at Malta International Airport, which Air Malta is not being given. Cawley said MIA's landing charges are €25 per passenger, calling it 'profiteering'.

And no matter how drastic the restructuring of Air Malta turns out, low-cost carriers will always threaten the survival of the national airline in a market that is determined by price and economies of scale.

Cawley also said the no-fly zone over Libya would not affect Ryanair operations.

Cawley today announced that Ryanair, which started operations in Malta back in 2007, is proposing to the Malta Tourism Authority 17 new routes and increase passengers to Malta by 200,000.

Ryanair already announced the reduction of the frequency of its Malta-Girona service to two flights a week instead of three as from 1 May, because of disagreements over subsidies for the use of that airport.

The airline had suspended its routes from the French city of Marseille in protest at being prosecuted over its employment practices. Ryanair in January abandoned its base at Marseille airport in protest over French prosecutors’ refusal to drop charges against it for hiring workers on Irish contracts, which they said breached labour laws.The company cut 13 routes from Marseille to destinations in Europe and Morocco, served by four aircraft based in the French city. But it continued to run 10 routes to and from the airport by planes based elsewhere.