The wires in the Air Malta call center have literally run hot in the last few days, as thousands of passengers tried to get information about the new entry regulations from the airline or to cancel their bookings for the summer. Background: Malta just wants Allow fully vaccinated people to enter without quarantine.

The fact that the government has also ordered the closure of the many language schools for children and young people means that tour operators are now canceling educational trips for young people on a large scale. For Air Malta in particular, however, these are good business that is now in acute danger. Airlines and hoteliers are particularly worried about the fact that a negative PCR test should only be recognized for children up to a maximum of 12 years when accompanied by a vaccinated person.

Air Malta told the Times of Malta newspaper that the new entry regulations (mandatory vaccination) are expected to result in a dramatic decline in the number of bookings. Just a few hours after the announcement by the government, the wires in the call center are said to have run hot. Many unvaccinated passengers approached the carrier with a request to cancel. Major tour operators also said that they had been asked to withdraw from the travel contract or to change the booking to another country, for example Greece. Maltese tourism is likely to face the next total economic failure.

UK-Deasater expands to other source markets

Just a few days ago, people in Malta were happy that the United Kingdom put the small state on the green list, but the local government only allows Brits to enter if they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. According to the Times of Malta, this is said to have led to a 30 percent drop in booking numbers. There was also a hail of cancellations on a large scale. The current expansion to all states could now lead to a drastic slump. The second largest source market is Germany and you hardly get any new bookings from this either, but rather large-scale cancellations.

An Air Malta spokesman cites the London-Heathrow route as an example. This collapsed drastically within a few days and was massively thinned out. Due to the large number of cancellations, there are mathematically negative new booking numbers. The state carrier now fears that this could extend to the entire European network. A spokesman says that a "dramatic decline" in booking numbers is expected for the really strong months of July and August 2021. Accordingly, short-term adjustments in the route network could not be ruled out.

“Air Malta will comply with the ticket conditions issued with the tickets sold in accordance with the normal procedure. Safety is a top priority for Air Malta and the airline will continue to work with the authorities to make it easier for their customers to travel while complying with all health guidelines issued by the authorities ”, Air Malta said cryptically when asked how to deal with customer cancellation requests.