The Maltese Government will continue having the controlling share of the airline .
But there ’ s more to it than that . Mr Galea explained that airlines counter the elevated cost of a longer flight by raising the ticket price . But this can only happen until a saturation point beyond which the traveller will not travel , as the ticket price would be too expensive . Once the ticket price is unsustainable , airlines simply shift the route to one wherein profit can be maximised . At times Air Malta sacrifices this devotion to profitability for the sake of bringing more business to Malta .
Economies of scale too kick in to the detriment of smaller airlines . “ One must not forget the market levels as well for certain routes since if a particular route normally sells at a particular level it is useless for us to sell it at a higher level and expect it to be financially successful ” he said .
In Mr Galea ’ s opinion , those travellers who are coming to Malta for the first time would probably have considered other destinations at the same time as when considering Malta , and so our level of competition has also to be at an incentive-level otherwise it just won ’ t work . “ Travel doesn ’ t happen at any cost … or at least not generally so !” he said .
The client therefore will be weighing a lot of elements – the feasibility of flying to Malta , the timing , frequency , accessibility , comfort , cost …. “ so one has to be within the market parameters all the time . We are in a very competitive environment , tourism and airlines also operate within a highly regulated environment so if you are not within those parameters you immediately lose out ” he said .
The Air Malta Acting CEO explained that the airline will always be there to support the local effort , whether in tourism or otherwise , and this is predominantly thanks to the fact that the Government has the controlling share of the airline . “ It will continue to have this control ” he insisted . Mr Galea continued explaining that “ as things stand today , Air Malta is supplying 40 % of the market .
Latching Malta to the world
In the tourism policy that Government is working on , Air Malta has a role to play . Mr Galea explained that one has to keep in mind that the national airline was not only a point-to-point airline , such as some of its low cost competitors are , “ but we have alliances and collaborations with other leading airlines – such as KLM and Air France - through which we can offer air travel and connections to any part of the world . Lufthansa , Emirates , Etihad , KLM and Air France for example have great networks and we can benefit from our collaboration with them . You can go to America , Asia or Australia through us . Due to our connectivity one can actually see the whole world through us .”
Surveys that have been held by third parties clearly show that the airline ’ s proficiencies are well respected by the traveller , local or other . A very high percentage – nearly as high as 90 % - indicates that Malta needs Air Malta even though some travellers are also happy to even choose to fly on the cheaper airlines . “ But they know ,” insisted Mr Galea , “ that as a country we do not want to be 100 % dependent on foreign airlines . The Maltese people know this and accept it . They know that Air Malta sometimes goes to the extremes to give a service .
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HOSPITALITY MALTA