22 - 28 June 2000

Milestone flight for Air Malta

by David Kelleher

Air Malta flies from New York today via Shannon in Ireland in what will go down as a milestone event in the airline's annals.

For a number of years, the airline, in an agreement with Balkan Airlines, flew to New York, however this is the first time that the aircraft will be flying with an Air Malta code.

"This is the first time that an Air Malta flight number will be used for a direct connection between Malta and New York and this is definitely history for Air Malta," John Saliba, Group Head Marketing and PR at Air Malta, told The Malta Business Weekly.

The airline will be leasing a Boeing 757 which seats over 200. The aircraft will not have an Air Malta livery, crew or cabin crew.

"The flight will take around 10 hours and passengers will have all the amenities required including in-flight entertainment facilities. The flight will operate via Shannon airport," Mr Saliba said.

He said that the initial response had been very encouraging with a 70 per cent seat factor, which is the number of seats booked.

Mr Saliba said that they were looking at a seat factor of over 80 per cent and were confident this could be reached.

"The seat factor has been increasing slowly over the past few days and we are confident that the route will be a success. The US market has a huge potential," Mr Saliba told The Malta Business Weekly.

He said that this route was the second of two tests. The first was the agreement signed with Balkan Airlines which provided Air Malta with a connection to America. However, the second test is more important as it creates a specific route to the continent.

"We are totally responsible for booking the aircraft and to this end we have carried out marketing campaigns in New York, especially among the Maltese community there, and also in Sicily. We are also promoting the route in Ireland," he said.

Mr Saliba said that the Air Malta to New York flight was only an experiment but if successful, the airline would consider repeating and enhancing the route. Other initiatives were also possible, he said.