Travel & Tourism
Ryanair seeks foothold in Malta
By Giselle Borg Olivier
Feb 19, 2006, 10:34

Ryanair Holdings PLC, the Irish low-cost airline, will hold
talks with Maltese officials this week to try and open a route to the Mediterranean island by next year, a Maltese business group said.

Ryanair is seeking access to Malta amid a debate here over the likely impact of low-cost airlines on the tourism industry.

"The government should decide early, so that Malta will not lose another year for Ryanair to operate," said Vince Farrugia, leader of the island's small and medium business association.

Ryanair said it believes the new Malta flights would carry in excess of one million passengers within the first year of operations.

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said the government was concerned no-frill carriers could create a "dangerous" monopoly, pushing out traditional operators. "Analysis has shown that there could be immediate growth in the industry
both with and without low-cost airlines," he told industry representatives on Wednesday 15 February.

Malta earned 472.8 million euros from tourism in the first nine months of 2005, an increase of 3.5 per cent over the previous year, according to government figures.

Source: AFX news agency

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