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During the period January to March 2006, Air Malta carried almost 30,000 passengers less on its entire network when compared to the same period the previous year. The Seat Factor on its scheduled services was 62% slightly lower than the previous year, according to data published by the airline.
Traffic on its scheduled network to and from Malta reached 233,000 a decrease of 8,000 passengers, while charter passengers were halved to 14,000 compared to the same quarter last year. There was a marginal decrease in passenger traffic on intra European routes and on the airline’s UK base charter operation.
During this period Air Malta flew 1,600 flights on its whole network. The airline provided 377,000 seats on its scheduled operations representing an increase of 1,000 on the corresponding period the previous year. The airline also increased by 2 percentage points its punctuality reaching 80%. An airline spokesperson confirmed that the first Quarter of 2006, being the low winter period, has been negative for the airline.
Air Malta reported that during the entire financial year which runs from April to March (2005/6) it carried a total of 1.86 million passengers on its whole network, a decrease of 46,000 passengers (-2.4%) when compared to the previous year. Scheduled services lost 9,000 passengers while charter traffic on the Malta based routes decreased by 75,000. This was partially compensated by an increase of 8,500 passengers on Intra European flights and 30,000 passengers on the UK based charter operations. Intra European services became possible for Air Malta when Malta acceded to the EU in May 2004.
During this financial year the Maltese airline flew 9,000 flights on its whole network. It provided 2.1 million seats on its scheduled operations representing an increase of 43,000 on the corresponding period the previous year. Air Malta has also increased its punctuality by 4 percentage points which reached 76%. The increase in seat capacity highlights the commitment of Air Malta in sustaining the development of tourism to Malta and confirms the incessant support of the airline to the local tourism industry.
Commenting on these results Chairman Lawrence Zammit said, “It was a tough year with Fuel Costs soaring up at unprecedented levels whilst traffic was stagnant. Competition on the Malta route was ferocious with an over abundance of seats and very aggressive pricing. The end result is expected to see another loss making year in spite of drastic cuts in the airline’s non-fuel cost base”.
The airline maintained that the efficiencies and improvements in its cost base committed during the Rescue Plan have all been maintained with the exception of Fuel. The bill for this vital commodity has shot up to Lm21.6 million from Lm16.5 million the previous year. “Had it not been for our diligent Fuel Hedging policies the cost of fuel would have been significantly higher than this. Unfortunately all the attractive fuel hedging transactions have now expired and those we have in place are not as attractive as those we previously enjoyed. Our concern is that if during the current financial year the price of crude remains at the present levels our fuel bill will be close to Lm29 million”.
In spite of the adverse trading scenario the airline has over the past year embarked on substantial investments to upgrade its technology particularly in the area of distribution and revenue management. It has embarked on a very aggressive program of innovation and now 98% of its stations are enabled to accept e-tickets. Air Malta is now embarking on other major projects including a new business Portal, upgraded internet booking engine, on-line payment facilities, self-service check-in kiosks and other advanced systems in Network Planning, Sales and Distribution operations, HR administration etc.
Other initiatives include the outsourcing of non-core operational activities such as IT services and infrastructure, aircraft cleaning and in-flight marketing communications. The programme of divestments from non-core business activities is still on course. Moreover, the airline has recently announced an attractive Voluntary Scheme to its staff. The airline stresses that its objectives to reach viability would have been achieved had it not been for the exponential rise in its fuel bill.
Looking at the current financial year Air Malta’s Chairman expressed a more optimistic note. “We believe that in spite of the adversities we are looking at a more positive year mainly driven by higher revenues and passenger load factors. We are now very focused on this aspect. We have filled the vacuum created by some airlines who decided to withdraw from the Malta route and we are confident that our commitment to Malta as a holiday destination will end up in a more positive result”.
© Copyright 2006 - MaltaMedia Online Network
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