Air Malta has added to its Heathrow and Manchester frequencies to satisfy demand for increased flexibility from the growing UK conference and incentive market to Malta.
Head of sales and marketing Northern Europe Dale Keller said: “The repositioning of Malta towards the conference and incentive market is benefiting the airline. This market segment needs flexibility in its travel arrangements that only a scheduled airline can provide. This is where growth has been, rather than in seven and 14-night operator packages.”
The airline has increased services for both winter and summer. Keller said:”For winter, we’ve increased Heathrow to 13 flights a week – virtually double daily – and put on a third Manchester flight that will give the conference and incentive market more choice.
“Next summer we’ll have seven flights a week out of Manchester, our highest frequency ever. There will be 15 flights weekly from Heathrow in summer, with three departures on Fridays.”
This winter, the extra Tuesday flight from Heathrow and new Thursday departure from Manchester gives Air Malta 27 flights a week from the UK and Ireland. It also flies daily from Gatwick and weekly from Stansted, Birmingham, Glasgow and Dublin.
The Stansted route was launched twice weekly last summer and Keller said: “It performed better than expected, so we’re keeping it for winter. Stansted has a good catchment area and the service has been well promoted locally – it’s here to stay.”
In summer 2000, Air Malta will operate a best-yet 46 weekly departures from the UK and Ireland – 15 from Heathrow, 12 from Gatwick, seven from Manchester, three from Birmingham, two each from Stansted and Glasgow, four from Dublin and one from Cork.
The carrier has a fleet of five Boeing 737-300s, two B737-200As and two Airbus A320s. It plans to lease in four B737s in a mix of 300s and 400s next summer.
New Top Offer fares lead in at £149.50, including taxes, for Stansted-Malta until December 16. From Gatwick, Top Offer fares start at £162.10, including taxes. Air Malta has just introduced a dedicated travel trade priority line for information and reservations.
For more information, call 020-8788 1021.