Only few Air Malta flights delayed, don’t create unnecessary hype - Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi

Konrad Mizzi defends use of old planes for short periods, as Opposition MPs demand he shoulder responsibility for delays

Air Malta compares well to other airlines in terms of cancellations, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said
Air Malta compares well to other airlines in terms of cancellations, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said

The recent delays plaguing Air Malta only affected “a few flights”, and the airline in fact compared very well to other carriers in terms of cancellations, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said.

Responding to criticism on the recent delays by national carrier by Opposition MPs in Parliament, during a discussion on the Tourism Authority’s budgetary figures, Mizzi said the airline had done all it could to solve its short-term problems.

"Air Malta has some 15-year old planes, and these need to be changed - we are about to receive a brand new Airbus A320neo. The old ones we used were only used for short periods," he said, adding that no "unneccessary media hype" should be created.

Nationalist Party MP Beppe Fenech Adami had earlier requested Mizzi to assume responsibility for the “flight scheduling disaster”, highlighting that delays exposed the airline to claims which could run into high amounts. “What damage has Air Malta suffered due to these delays?” Fenech Adami asked.

Fellow Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo argued in same same vein, emphasising that the Air Malta situation was an overriding problem, with “hundreds, if not thousands” of passengers having their flight schedule disrupted.

“I expected much better planning and logistics, I cannot understand what happened [to cause these latest development],” Arrigo said, “We are leasing aircraft over the internet, on LinkedIn, and you have an Air Malta CEO who every day has to try to find a plane to use for the next day.”

“Why is it that, after [former Tourism Minister] Edward Zammit Lewis reduced Air Malta's routes and fleet numbers, Mizzi came and did the opposite?” PN MP Robert Cutajar asked, remarking the government couldn’t keep blaming the situation on mistakes made by Nationalist administrations in the 1980s and 90s.

Mizzi, however, reiterated the government’s objective to transform the airline into one which served the Mediterranean, emphasising this could only be done through increasing fleet size and flight frequency.

“We want to improve our connectivity with Europe and Africa. To do this, we have to achieve economies of scale, where our planes fly more hours each day,” he said, underlining that Air Malta had carried 40% more passengers this year than in previous ones.

Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami said the Air Malta flight delay situation was a disaster
Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami said the Air Malta flight delay situation was a disaster

The rostering limit for the current pilot workforce has now been reached, Mizzi said, so the airline would be embarking on a recruitment drive. “We wanted to fill planes before employing more pilots,” he said.

Country reaping fruit of Nationalist administrations

Fenech Adami underscored that the tourist sector in Malta was now reaping the fruit of Nationalist administrations' investments.

“The construction of the new airport, the new power station, the revolution in water desalination, the construction of five-star hotels in the 1990s and early 2000s, EU membership, the low-cost airlines… had the Nationalist Party given in to what the Opposition was preaching, we wouldn’t have many of these,” he said.

“Some boast about tourism figures,” he said, “But we forget how this was all achieved. Valletta, for instance, is the gem it is now because of Nationalist decisions and major projects.”

He then, however, went on to describe the “dilapidation and shabbiness” in the capital, saying that that one wouldn’t imagine it to be the European Capital of Culture by the looks of it. “There is not a single pole in Republic Street which is stuck straight into the ground,” he remarked.

Calling the litter situation in the country “scary”, he said there was “rubbish everywhere”.

“Bins are overflowing in tourist localities such as Bugibba and Valletta,” he said, “And then there is construction, which keeps going on and on. There are people, including tourists, who can’t live in peace because construction regulations are not abided by.”