With Air Malta set to cease operations early next year, the country’s government has announced the establishment of a new national airline to serve the Maltese Islands. Announced by Prime Minister Robert Abela, the new company will be called KM Malta Airlines plc and will start operations on March 31, 2024.

The new airline will, at inception, have the Government of Malta as its sole shareholder.

At the announcement, Abela reiterated Malta’s commitment to maintaining a national airline with a sustainable business model and emphasized that the new carrier would diligently implement a five-year business plan.

He further assured that the airline would retain its current workforce, fleet size, and continue serving 17 important routes, while acting as a key player in Malta’s tourism industry.

Tiny Malta is situated in the heart of the Mediterranean near Italy and Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said that having a national airline providing international connectivity is a critical part of the infrastructure of the Islands.

The government says launching a new airline addresses the “absence of a solution for the capitalization of Air Malta plc” and provides a “clean sheet” for a new carrier that can “build on the many strengths of Air Malta but with a strong focus on long-term financial sustainability.”

The minister said that significant work was undertaken with international industry experts to develop a credible five-year business plan that was also shared with the European Commission.

The new airline will initially operate a total of 17 routes, with increased frequencies added on some existing mature routes to maximise aircraft utilization and optimise commercial performance.

The organic point-to-point network will be supported by existing and new codeshare partnership agreements with major airlines operating from key European transit hubs, which provide important connections onto their long-haul international services.

Based on full customer segmentation, the new airline will present a fully unbundled product offering with economy and premium services, based on analysis that indicated a clear demand for premium and premium economy class flights serving Malta.

The new airline will operate a single type aircraft fleet of eight Airbus 320NEOs, in a two-class configuration with a flexible premium-class cabin averaging 168 total saleable seats with up to 36 premium class seats. The modern fuel-efficient aircraft offer superior operating economics and better environmental performance with reduced CO2 emissions per passenger and noise pollution. In line with industry best practice, the fleet will comprise a mixed owned and leased ownership structure for aircraft and spare engines.

Air Malta

Air Malta will cease operations on March 30, 2024, but will continue to operate as planned all its flights up to that date. Customers can continue to book and purchase tickets as normal and Air Malta will honour all tickets for flights up to March 30. Flights with travel dates on March 31 and after will be operated by the new airline.

Air Malta will refund customers the total cost of any tickets already issued with travel dates on or after March 31 with refunds guaranteed by the Government of Malta as the principal shareholder of Air Malta. From Dec. 1, customers whose tickets are refunded by Air Malta as part of the transition will have the opportunity to book the same flights with the new airline.

Air Malta, which is represented in Canada by Discover the World, says further communications will be issued by in due course.