Air Malta cuts British routes as demand stalls

Malta’s flag-carrier Air Malta, will be significantly cutting its flights to the UK this summer, due to slow demand it blames on Malta’s continued exclusion from the UK green list for international travel.

The airline has cancelled all flights to and from Manchester between 20th July to 10th September, and significantly reduced flights to London Heathrow.

In July, Air Malta has cancelled 11 return flights between Heathrow and Malta, reducing the schedule to six times a week, serving the airport every day of the week except Tuesdays.

Commenting on these changes, Air Malta’s Chief Commercial Officer Roy Kinnear stated: “We are closely monitoring all the developments in the market and adapting our network accordingly”.

The decline in advance bookings with not obvious signs of improvement left the airline “with no option but to consolidate its planned operations”.

“The UK remains an integral part of our future network plans and Air Malta will re-consider its position if the circumstances change”, he added.

Whilst the airline is cutting its flights to the UK, it is adding to those serving two European destinations: France and the Netherlands.

From late July, Air Malta will be adding a weekly flight to and from both nation’s capitals, and from September, a further weekly service will be added to the Dutch capital, bringing flight frequency up to six times per week.