A new low-cost Malta-based airline is coming to town, operated by Irish airline Ryanair
It will be the second airline based in Malta after Air Malta.
Ryanair is set to operate a Malta-based fully-fledged subsidiary, under the brand name Malta Air. The Irish airline will have a head office on our islands, including an engineering department.
The brand will begin operations with six aircraft, but the number is intended to increase to 12 over the coming years. Ryanair currently has six airplanes based in Malta which operate on more than 60 routes, which will be transferred to the new subsidiary.
Malta Air or Air Malta?
The Malta Air brand will be a low-cost carrier airline forming part of the Ryanair group, which will see a transfer of 300 crew members that currently service the six aircraft.
After the local airline, Air Malta, Ryanair’s subsidiary will be the second airline based on our islands, giving the low-cost carrier permanency in Malta.
Sources that spoke to MaltaToday said, “Ryanair had initially expressed an interest in Air Malta but the government shot down the idea, proposing instead that the Irish company open a subsidiary operating on a Maltese Air Operator’s Certificate.”
Unlike Ryanair, Air Malta operates to main airports in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, offering business class and cargo services, and is expected to expand its routes to Ghana and Mumbai in India, too. The sources said that these facilities “distinguish Air Malta from Ryanair and other low-cost operations.”