4 - 10 January 2001

Air Malta not willing to give up Catania

by Franco Aloisio

Despite reports on the Italian media that Air Malta might opt out from Catania and start flying to the new Sicilian airport of Gela, the Maltese national airline denied that it had any plans to quit flying to Catania.
La Repubblica recently reported that work on the Gela airport would start in February and could be completed by October of this year. The airport would cover the area of Gela, Piazza Armerina, Ragusa and Comiso.
A presentation of this project was made to the Maltese authorities in the past months. La Repubblica said that Air Malta was particularly interested in the Gela airport development.
The article said that if the Gela airport offered better rates than the Catania one, Air Malta could become the first client of the Gela airport, mainly because Air Malta pays Catania around Lm1m a year in holding fees.
Air Malta chairman Louis Grech told The Malta Business Weekly that the company expressed its interest in the Gela airport development.
“However, in no way did Air Malta indicate that it was planning to stop operating to and from Catania. There is a demand for Catania all year round, and we intend maintaining that destination,” Mr Grech said.
This winter, Air Malta decided to drop the Palermo destination due to lack of demand.