Air Malta will serve a record 47 destinations with scheduled flights this summer in a drive to strengthen its policy to convert successful charter operations into scheduled services.
Stansted joins the network in May with a twice-weekly service departing for Malta on Tuesday at 11.35am and Thursday at 8.05pm (5.35pm from June). At the same time, Air Malta will launch to Prague and Moscow.
Group head commercial Philip Pullicino said: “We’d been operating Stansted as a weekly charter and had been toying with the idea of converting it to a scheduled operation for a year.
“With the problem of obtaining extra slots at Heathrow and Gatwick, it made sense to start scheduled operations from one of London’s other airports.
“Whether we increase frequency on the route depends on how it does in its first year. If our Heathrow and Gatwick flights are full, the Stansted service will do well. We have high hopes for it.”
In June, Air Malta will start a weekly summer-only service to Cork, which the carrier hopes will ease the pressure on its Dublin operation – up from three to four flights a week this summer.
A total of 39 Air Malta flights a week will operate from the UK this summer. The weekly schedule includes 15 flights from Heathrow, 12 from Gatwick, five from Manchester, three from Birmingham and two from Glasgow, plus the two Stansted flights.
To handle the route expansion, the airline will operate its largest fleet to date – five Boeing 737-300s, two B737-200As, two Airbus A320s and four leased B737s in a mix of 300s and 400s.
The B737-400 series aircraft seat 152 passengers and the B737-300s take 144, providing extra capacity as required on Air Malta’s high-performing routes from the UK and Germany.
Air Malta is also increasing its presence in the Gulf region on routes of particular significance to the UK market through its use of Malta as a hub for the Middle East.
The airline has served Dubai since 1993 and also operates to Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. This summer, Air Malta is increasing its Gulf frequency to six flights a week.
Longer-term plans call for an extension of the Dubai route to India and Pakistan and the launch of routes to Kuwait, Qatar and Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. While flights from Malta to Tripoli and Benghazi remain suspended under a United Nations resolution, Air Malta’s routes to the eastern Mediterranean – which include Larnaca, Damascus, Tel Aviv and Cairo – continue to pick up UK connecting traffic, said Pullicino.
The twice-weekly Beirut service, launched in November, is also paying dividends, he said. “There are tremendous possibilities for the UK market using Malta as a gateway to this part of the world.”
Air Malta has launched Top Offers, a new range of low fares from ú159, including tax, from Gatwick until March 24. The price from Heathrow is ú169 and from other UK points ú189.
Dale Keller, head of marketing and sales northern Europe, said:”We’ve broken away from British Airways on pricing and are now offering our own branded fares.”
n BA franchise carrier GB Airways will serve Malta daily this summer from Gatwick. Flights will depart Gatwick at 8.45am and Malta at 2pm. The carrier serves the route with B737-300 or 400 aircraft.