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Air Malta pays millions to MIA for ‘heftiest passenger tariffs’
Discarded restructuring plan did not consider ‘unjustified’ millions Air Malta pays to MIA and private operators.
Air Malta has been paying Malta International Airport €21 on each passenger it brings to the islands, but no mention is made of the millions Air Malta has been paying in the restructuring programme that has now been taken back to the drawing board.
The criticism being levied at Finance Minister Tonio Fenech by airline employees and industry observers is that the government has ignored “disadvantageous conditions” Air Malta suffers at the hands of MIA – owned by Vienna International Airport, the Canadian engineering group SNC-Lavalin, and the Bianchi Group.
“Fenech is scared to take on MIA,” one of a group of middle-management officials told MaltaToday this week, after a restructuring programme for Air Malta drawn up by Ernst & Young was found to have incorrect headline figures and is now being redrawn.
The same report contains comments by the Ernst & Young consultants on the exaggeratedly high tariffs MIA has imposed on Air Malta, at €21 per passenger the highest rate amongst European airports.
“In spite of the high costs, Fenech and Air Malta chairman Sonny Portelli have steered clear of engaging MIA,” one source told MaltaToday.
The charges are set by the airport charges regulatory board, which includes 3 members from the MIA board, a representative from the largest carrier and one representing the other carriers, and an officer from Transport Malta’s civil aviation directorate.
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This Government CANNOT be credible when it talks of "saving" Air Malta. Just like Cameron told Gaddafi, "we will judge you by what you do and not what you say", the same goes for the Prime Minister.
Air Malta is paying around 21million a year to MIA and to make sure that this will keep happening, the Government even accepted an "exclusivity" clause in MIA's favour to inhibit Air Malta from giving the Old Terminal a re-vamp and to move ALL of its operations there!
How is THAT for goverment supporting its OWN investment???
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dear Robin Hood,
yes, I have been with airmalta more than 25 years and i intend staying because I love this company and have seen it growing and making millions; until, that is, we had the PN taking it over and started wrecking havoc. The first genious we had was J N Tabone on whom the less said the better. Than we started getting foreign geniouses like Funk and Friesen, and with their wordly knowledge which they condescendingly imparted to us ignorant employees, we have the company in it's present state. Add to this the rampant corruption going on, with fat cats still milking the company and you see where all the losses are being made.
Yes, last in first out, so those who were imployes simply for their political allegiance and not their knowhow will be the ones to get kicked out. If the PN will eep it's nose out of Airmalta, the employees know what to do to turn the company. The unions are already showing the way, but our dear ministe ris shitting in his pants, caught between the EU and the prospect of losing thousands of votes...
Pauline Moran •
Robin Huud ma tisthix taghmel il kummenti li qed taghmel kontra il haddiema ta' Airmalta. Int mill liema pjaneta waqajt?! Issa mur isimek kif jitla il Labour fil gvern kemm ser tiggargarizza grezmejk bit tghajjir, mhux ghax jkun qed iffalli xi azjenda bhal ma tafu taghmlu inthom, izda minhabba xi SANGUE SUGA bhalek ma jkunx ghadu jerda flus il poplu. It tmiem tal gvern taghkom daqt jasal ja Laqi!!!...imbaghad nussugerilek tparpar lejn Sherwood Forest ghal xi 16 il sena ohra!!!!
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One fiasco after another, this piece of sh.t government is not capable of anything but destroying what once was profitable entities.Mr. Gonzi and Co. get ready because the tsunami is gaining momentous. We need a tidal wave to erase any memory of your rotten legacy.
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yes will always be the same. You think just because you got your only employment with the Airline through some long distant patronage. You think you own it. You are afraid to find real work.
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@robin hudd
Your advice is viable, the nazzi tried to start an airline back in the 60s but all they managed to launch were a couple of moveable stairways for the disembarcation of paasengers.
It took the nazzi 18 years to build a simple hospital at a price 4 times the initial cost.
For Tonio ArsInall Fenech to start a new airline it would take him a hundred years
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Surfturtle:
Xieraq Robin Huud ta' spiss jigbor sehemu mill-inflight magazine tal-Air Malta!!
Pauline Moran •
SUR ROBIN HUUD, BIDDEL ISMEK SIEHBEK GHAX SER IKOLLOK XI TGHID MA WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS! L-isem ma jixraqlek xejn..suggeriment tieghi hu li taghmlu "Sherwood Sheriff"...iktar jkun addattat ghalik ja bica ta' laqi tal PN! Ara inti tmurx issib xi impjegt ta l'Airmalta li ilu 25 years jaghti servizz u ghidli b'din il buzullotta tal Golden Handshake forsi jaghtik GOLDEN KNOCKOUT!!!! Qazzistuh Pajjiz ja qabda ipokriti!
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if 'employee' has been with Air Malta for more than 25years he should take the first step, accept a golden handshake and let Airmalta move into the future for he belongs with the past.
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@The Alchemist
Very well said.
Labour is obliged to request an independent investigation into the "Air Malta" situation and make a formal complain to the E.U. of such a racket not just on Air Malta, but on all other things.
If Dr.Muscat want to show the Maltese people that he is able to get rid of such a corruption, he must act now before it will be too late and the same story of Dr.Sant will repeat itself.
By having such a negotiation or being informed of such an outcome of restructuring programme, it will be a waste of time and being used by the same people who brought such a situation of Air Malta and other companies, like the Dockyard, Sea Malta, EneMalta, and others.
@Il Googol &
For those that they think that I have any special interest in Air Malta, they are wrong as I'm a retired person.
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the state the company is in will necessitate shedding staff, since nobody wants to grap the fat cats who are milkingthe compaNY AND STILL DO.
Dear Tony Zarb, do not even for one second consider relleasing the first in last out option. This is what is really worrying the corrupt government we have, as they know that with this system, it will be their blue eyed boys, whom they employed in the last 25 years who will have to leave. And that means thousands of lost votes.
Without these know it all, the company was making millions.
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one such story is the duty free shop at the airport. Air Malta had the shop which had exclusivity on alcohol and tobacco sales but it was decided that this would be sold. Guess who bought it ???
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But the article mentions just the Tip of the iceberg. There are many other similar stories which are all linked to a web of "legal corruption". This is why the terms of reference of the steering committee was not to look at the past and was to be confidential. The PN has used this tactic in other places. They privatize or outsource and then get their share of the spoils to use come election day.
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My humble advice to the Minister is to simply close down the Airline and start afresh if he considers having an Airline is ‘strategic’. Government is not there to run companies, any government that is. Air Malta seems to have been used abused and milked dry from a productive cow to a sick one and is now dying from ‘mad cow, disease. Accusations flowing from all directions from Nationalists to Labourites and middle fence sitters too. Top management may have disagreed in the past with the directions sent from Government still they remained in their posts like other obedient civil servants. Until the Bomb exploded of course.
If I where Minister I would not allow taking flack for other people’s misdoings. MHRA says time is running out. If only if they had said this when they were getting low cost passengers in their Hotels subsidised by the Tax payer while Air Malta got none. Worse than that from this report it seems Air Malta subsidised other private entities with the obvious results. They are now talking of getting smaller aircraft with lower maintenance cost. Where is the business logic in this?. Not so long ago we read of the Avro scandal and its high maintenance cost. Only in circuses such summersaults are made.
Pauline Moran •
Qed nikteb ktieb gdid hbieb, taht intitolat 'Wenzu Baba & the Malta Theives'. Ser jkun ghal wieri fil Fiera Internazzjonali tal Giddieb wara li ser tfalli l-AirMalta u lil hinn minnha.
Apparti c-cajt hbieb...Jien nissugerixxi investigazzjoni bl-erghruq u xnieghxel kif jitla Gvern Laburista. Dawn in Nies ghandhom jigu nveztigati sew. Jitnehhewlom il privileggi kollha u jekk jkollom xi flus kbar hafna fil kontijiet taghhom jigu frizati sakemm issir l-investigazzjoni. Dawn bi flus il poplu qed jaghmlu festa u mhux bi flushom. Il poplu sehmu jridu u ma jistax jippermetti lil xi clown b'ghajnejn celesti jaghmel li jrid bi flusu. Min irid il flus jmur jahdem ghalihom kif naghmlu lkoll!! Zmien li il 'money-no-problem' issa spicca...pero issa beda iz-zmien tal PAYBACK!!!!
Xtaqt verament nesprimi min qalbi soledarjeta ma kull haddiem li ta sehmu ghal Airmalta u li ser jigi mkecci minhabba l-injoranza, t-tahwid u l-inkompetenza tal partit fil gvern. Meta tmorru tivvutaw fl-elezjoni li gejja ftakru zewg affarijiet...
1. Min veru iggieled ghal haddiem u ghal Malta biex jkollna pajjiz ekonomikament u fizikament b'sahhtu.
2. Min seraq u qed jkompli jisraq haj lil haddiem u kisser l-ekonomija ta' Malta ghal kapricci u l-but ta erba min nies li jriduha ta 'Royalty'.
Mhemmx ikollkom problema...it twegiba tafuha sew.
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The strategy was that the more MIA earned, the more the minor shareholders (who have an allegiance to the PN) pocketed from the profits.
As simple as that. An this applies to other privtisation deals which have taken place in the last 20 years - thanks to the wise man at the Privitisation Unit
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@googol
X'inhu ghadad?
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@astrolux
Il-PL fil-gvern mhux ser jaghmel mirakli imma zgur mhux ser jaghmel il-hniezrijiet li ghamlu EFA u gonzi li dak kollu li kien bena il-MLP/PL kissruh kollu minhabba l-ghira u l-pika barra l-fatt li riedu jroddu lura l-obligazzjonijiet ta' minn issostniehom.
Darba BO kien qal lil EFA li ma jarahx wicc Alla u mieghu inzied li lanqas il-gonz.
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Kullhadd iparla u jikkumenta u hadd ma johrog jipprotesta u juri l-ghadad. Hallina tal-Airmalta............
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When an honest, ordinary, Maltese citizen will be hearing such things, and especially when one consider the amount of taxes / VAT that he or she is paying every day, one will soon come to a conclusion that there is only one God, money .
In my humble opinion, if these thing are going to persists, Malta will soon be following suite as some of the Arab countries are passing though.
That will be the day, because it will also go on to other European counties that are feeling the same, if not worst.
I hope that such investigations will be made by a future Labour Government.
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I have been drawing the public attention to the fact that gonziPN was letting its lackies slowly gnawing at airmalta to cripple it for quite some time.
Having travelled quite a number of times with the airline, I cannot complain of the service but when it comes to customer service when buying tickets or having them changed those running the company made sure to shoo away the customer.
It is enough to say having to return home unexpectedly because of family problems I had to pay around €504 to change return date for a total of over €800 for a return trip, and that is in europe.
Other airlines offer you aweek in Las Vegas with accommodation for less and still have some spending money.
I hope that a PL government would dig deep into airmalta's financial history these past 20 years and make the culprits pay not only with a jail sentence but also with a heavy financial penalty.
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Hanzirata li ma titwemminx! Ali Baba and his forty thieves would not have been that greedy! Yep, ACCUMULATION by dispossession of wealth from the middle class to a 'few' good fellas is going on before our eyes! A veritable PONZI scheme planned to milk Air Malta dry; there is nothing left to suck and we have to pick up the pieces!
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Ma nistax nifhem kif hawn sezzjoni tal-popolazzjoni Maltija mhiex qegħda tinduna bil-sferġju li qiegħed isir min GonżiPN fl-ekonomija Maltija speċjalment kif falla lil AirMalta. Bilħaqq din is-sezzjoni tal-popolazzjoni qegħdin ippappuha tajjeb mingħand GonżiPN.
QUM POPLU! QUM POPLU!......naħseb tard wisq.....ma fadal xejn issa ħlief dejn. Amen.
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@Freedom.
Issa ma nistennewx li l-PL la jkun fil-gver ser jaghmel il-mirakli hux ghax minn estrem ma nistghux immorru ghal iehor tafux. Naqbel li jekk jista jkun il-kuntratt tal-MIA ghandu jtwaqqa imma jiena nghid haga ohra li illum istess ghandha ssir investigazjoni serja dwar il-hnizrijiet ta' kuntratti li nghataw li entitajiet bhal dawn, dawn qed jahilbu l-flus lilna ll-Maltin u l-Ghawdxin u huma jistanew, hekk sewwa? U zgur li le. Mela ghandha ssir investigazzjoni u min qed jizbalja jhallas mhux Alla jbierek qed hawn Malta qe djigru terrimoti ikbar minn dak li sar fil-Gappun u qisu ma hu jigri xejn. Ahna irridu li min jizbalja jhallas, ara jekk jiena naghmel xi haga kriminuza anke zghira ibqa zgur li nispicca l-Qorti u jkolli nhallas talli ghamilt u mhux bhal dawn kissru lil Malta u Alla jbierk ghadhom fuq il-pedestal, mhux tal-forka imma tal-GLORJA. Hemm bzonn li ahna nkumu wahda sew u naghmlu bhal pajjizi girien tagha ghax ahna xorta qeghdin mahkurin taht dan il-Gvern (regim). Ghandha ssir gustizzja ma kullhadd ibda mill-kbar nett l-ewwel ghax dawk ghandhom is-sahha. U l-poplu Malti kollu hekk jistenna li ssir gustizzja ma min abbuza.
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Mhux hekk hux, hawn erba' li ffangaw u għadhom jiffangaw u Tonio Fenech irid jitfa' 600 l-barra wara li bażużli tal-partit tiegħu, li għażluhom huma, kissru kumpanija li dejjem għamlet profit anke' meta kellha aktar ħaddiema. Maħniex ser ninsew minn għaffeġ u xi ħadd irid jerfgħa r-responsabilta' tal-falliment li jaħti għalih il-PN BISS!!! Jiddispjaċini għal sħabi li ħadmu hemm għal snin twal u qatt ma basru li kolonna bħal din kienet ser titmermer hekk. Imma bilħaqq insejt li, ma GonziPN, Kollox Possibli. Ta' l-anqas dil-wegħda żamma.
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Lill kull min verament jixtieq il-gid sincier lill Airmalta:
Hbieb tieghi. Tinsewx. Malta ghandha ministru tal-Finanzi li darba kien Sindku tal-Kunsill Lokali ta' B'Kara. Meta warrab halla dejn ta' madwar miljun lira Maltin warajh!! Jista xi hadd jimmagina kif dan Fenech jista jsarraf f'minitsru tal-Finanzi effettiv ghall-Malta? Min ghandu xi ideja, jiktibha halli nifhem. Biex tkompli tghaxxaqha gabu ex RyanAir, ex Easy Jet, ex BMI biex dawn isalvaw lill AIrMalta........jew biex jizzalzettjawha wahda tajba?
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Fil mument meta smajt l-intervista mwegga ghal familjari tieghi li jahdmu L-AirMalta. Tonio Fenech ma jafx jisthi u l-konsegwenzi li din il mossa li jha jkecci 600 haddiem ha iggib maghha fuq il familji tal haddiema. Kuragg haddiema tal AirMalta ibqghu wara l-Unions taghkom taqtghux qalbkom. Is Sewwa jerbah Zgur!
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Have no comments on this my mind do boggle as to what is happening at Air Malta weeks are passing by and instead of finalizing we are back to the drawing boards????, most probable that Cor Vrieswijk was not happy at all with the situation and decided to quit rather than tarnish his CV. So please do not let Air Malta employees continue to suffer.
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This is just crazy. Air Malta pays €21 for every passenger which goes to the foreign Austrian company running MIA while we pay from our taxes €25 for every passenger brought by Ryanair and other LCAs!!!!!!!! Simply DISGUSTING.
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This is just another example of how our national assets are being sold ior managed by foreigners. Instead of Air Malta paying the Government for using MIA, the foreign Austrian company running MIA is bleeding Air Malta from millions of euros with the money going out of Malta to the Austrian company. I hope that the next Labour Government disregards the agreement made by the PN regime, revokes the MIA agreement without any compensation and tell the EU where to shove its orders.
