Updated | PM flies Air Malta for EU summit after private plane is grounded

Updated with Air Malta reaction on delays on 26 March 2011 and clarification from OPM on flight expenses.

One TV news reported that the Prime Minister and a small entourage of not more than four people had to make use of a 200-seat Airbus plane belonging to Air Malta. 

This occurred after the private plane scheduled to take them to the Brussels EU summit experienced technical problems. 

The Air Malta flight returned from Brussels without any passengers. But the OPM told MaltaToday that the cost of the flight was financed by the European Council.

Air Malta is presently undergoing restructuring after concerns from the EU that the Maltese government cannot continue to subsidize the national airline which has been operating at a loss for over four years.

Apart from yesterday's unscheduled flight, the scheduled flights from Brussels to Malta or their departure from Malta to Brussels often suffer delays to accommodate the Permanent Representative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana's schedule.

In a statement, Air Malta said it “categorically denies it was asked to delay its scheduled flights between Malta and Brussels to accommodate Malta’s EU Permanent Representative Richard Cachia Caruana or any of his staff.”

The Air Malta spokesperson said that Air Malta punctuality statistics on the Malta-Brussels route “speak for themselves as the airline has a punctuality record of almost 99 per cent on-time departures and arrivals.”