Updated | Zammit Lewis slams opposition's credibility on Air Malta

Simon Busuttil worried about political interference in Air Malta. Video: Ray Attard

Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo has called on the government to come clean on the potential sale of parts of the national airline's business.

"The government said in parliament that Air Malta was on track but their financials have made it clear that this is not the case," Arrigo said of the €16.2 million loss registered in the end-March 2014 accounts, when the original restructuring plan said that Air Malta should have been making profit by now.

"Air Malta has been losing money under two years of a Labour government and I urge the government to tell the people what its plans for the airline are. Minister Zammit Lewis himself admitted that the government failed in the past two years, and this cannot go on," Arrigo said. He urged the government to come clean on whether they intend to sell part of the airline. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said in April that the government's plans for Air Malta are similar to its plans for Enemalta. 

The opposition’s claims drew a strong-worded reaction from tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis who slammed the Nationalist Party’s credibility.

“During the previous government’s long tenure, the airline was on the verge of bankruptcy and this led to the European Commission’s restructuring plan,” he said.

Denying political interference in the airline’s management, Zammit lewis underlined that appointment of people who have different political beliefs to the party in government at the helm of Air Malta.

Insisting that “the opposition has no credibility,” Zammit Lewis said government had nothing to hide and highlighted the new board’s “transparency” in yesterday’s annual general meeting and press conference which announced the airline’s financial results.

“The opposition wants to turn everything into a political football and ignored the Air Malta chairperson’s appeal for politicians to hold back.”

Reiterating government’s commitment to “strengthen” the airline’s management, Zammit Lewis said that if the restructuring plan’s targets are reached Air Malta could become a big player in the sector.    

Air Malta's chairman yesterday announced the airline's finances and its €16.2 million in losses over the past year. 

"Under two years of labour, Air Malta has lost money," Arrigo said. "Their excuses include competition but there has always been competition. The situation in Libya was similar under the PN too. Yet the restructuring plan was on track until 2012.

"Air Malta employed 300 more people and promoted 17 flight staff to in-flight managers," he said. "A head of industrial relations post was also created. These transfers do not give productive returns. Ground-handling costs for Air Malta are the costliest in Europe."

Arrigo also questioned why parliamentary questions on the airline had gone unanswered, particularly those related to the occupancy rate of the planes. 

Nationalist MP Kristy Debono, spokesperson for competitiveness issues, said that the tourism sector was becoming more significant to Malta's economy. "It is a sector that is dependant on sustainability and viability of Air Malta," Debono said. "How will the government ensure that the airline can remain trendy and make profit? Air Malta puts Malta on the international map, commercially and touristically."

Debono asked what went wrong, when a target of €3.2 million profit in 2014 was replaced with €16.2 million in losses and the restructuring plan the Labour party agreed to had gone off-track.

"Will the government's plans for Air Malta be made transparency or behind closed doors?," she asked.

"The Nationalist government had reduced staff, losing votes as a result, but it was a commercial decision," Debono said. "Flight prices cannot be reduced if losses are being made."

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil also said in a press conference held late ron in the day that he was concerned at the potential political interference in the running of Air Malta. "While we are satisfied with the tourism statistics, the national airline's future is worrying us, particularly after statements made by its new chairperson telling politicians to stay out of air maltas operations," Busuttil told members of FATTA (the Federated Association of Travel and Tourism Agents_. "The previous Nationalist government never interfered with Air Malta."

He also echoed Arrigo's demands that the government clarify whether it had plans to sell parts of the airline.

Busuttil pointed out that Air Malta's management structure had changed twice under the government and that it has now employed its third CEO in under two years as well as 300 new workers. 

"Air Malta has no other choice but to stick with the restructuring plan that the previous government had agreed upon with the European Commission," Busuttil said. "Its future is at stake, and if it fails, then Malta's economy will be severely affected."