Air Malta to piggyback on Ryanair website

Air Malta will be selling several of its routes on the popular Ryanair booking website in a joint venture with the low cost Irish airline.

The agreement will allow Air Malta to broaden its market reach through Ryanair’s website, ensuring a more effective online presence.

The national airline will be able to sell 21 of its routes on the website.

The partnership kicked off today and was announced at a press conference at Air Malta’s headquarters.

David O’Brien, chief commercial officer at Ryanair, said his company’s website was the largest in Europe, receiving 50 million visits per month. The website is available in 17 languages, including Chinese.

O’Brien said Air Malta’s presence on its website will help enrich its offering. “It helps us grow from a single distribution channel for Ryanair to a more comprehensive airline website offering customers a wider choice,” O’Brien said, when asked what would Ryanair get from the deal.

Air Malta chairperson Charles Mangion said the partnership with Ryanair became possible after the airline invested heavily in IT. He said the agreement helps address Air Malta’s online weakness.

Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said the airlines will be looking into further collaboration in the future.

“We will be looking at options that will see Air Malta being a link for Ryanair passengers to African airports as we strive to become the airline of the Mediterranean,” Mizzi said.

The minister said Air Malta’s growth strategy was paying dividends. With more than 20 new routes added to its network, the airline grew its passengers by 40%.