Air Malta has the highest unit cost in the region, which is 44 per cent higher than Ryanair and at least 30 per cent higher than Aegean. That's the grim picture painted by Chief Executive David Curmi as he addressed local press at the Treasury Department in Valletta.

It was revealed that the airline sold all of its assets between 2005 and 2020, with the exception of ONE, which MAviO News says consists of a property called Three Alpha, which is adjacent to the airline's maintenance base.

Today, Air Malta only has a 30 percent share of the local market, with competitor Malta Air (Ryanair) taking the lion's share. The company has decided to immediately discontinue the loss-making routes, which have been reduced from 40 to 19. In the summer of 2022, the number of routes is to be increased to 20.

The carrier has been hit very hard by COVID-19, but interestingly, Treasury Secretary Clyde Caruana said in a radio interview that the company lost less money than if it had flown its busy schedule in the days leading up to the pandemic. In FY21, the downward trend in passenger numbers compared to FY19 reached a staggering 85 percent.

The company will transition to an all-Airbus A2024neo fleet by 320. Curmi also stressed that he would like the company to be more active in the charter and cargo markets. The chief executive didn't mince his words and explained that the number of employees at Air Malta had to be reduced from the current 890 to 430. The airline has launched a program called VTS (Voluntary Transfer Scheme) that will run until January 28, 2022, where employees who wish to transfer to a new government facility can apply by that date. The first 110 employees will leave Level 2 of Sky Parks by the first week of March.

Since 2005, the company has burned a whopping €330m and auditors were unwilling to sign off on the accounts as there are serious doubts about Air Malta's viability. Curmi said that with eight planes, the number of pilots will vary between 69 and 85. More than 20 applicants submitted their CVs for the 600 vacancies that were recently advertised. It seems there was some consensus with the local ALPA branch as to who the candidates to make this lot should be. Air Malta has been flying with a crew of two captains for the past 18 months after all first officers were fired in June 2020.

The company will also spin off its ground handling division, which currently employs around 300 people. Interestingly, it was also announced at the press conference that Air Malta had switched its commitment from two Airbus A321XLRs to three Airbus A320neos. The long-haul flights planned from 2018 are now off the table and there is no interest in entering this market.

At the end of the presentation, CEO David Curmi unveiled the new livery, designed according to sources close to the national airline. It is reminiscent of the old scheme used by Air Malta from 1990 onwards.

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana remained silent on the amount of aid the European Commission must approve, saying he could not give a figure as the Commission had lost confidence in Air Malta amid a string of broken promises. Air Malta's future has also raised questions about sister airline Malta MedAir, which was set up by the Maltese government two years ago. Both companies are very interested in the charter market. The question of whether the two state-owned airlines will compete has so far remained largely unanswered.

This post was written by: Chris Cauchi / MAviO News