Air Malta to be replaced on 31 March 2024

The government of Malta has announced it will formally close down Air Malta on 30 March 2024 and launch a new airline a day later. According to a press-conference held by the Prime Minister of Malta on 2 October 2023, the EU has given permission for the switch, ending years long financial struggling by the airline.

The new airline will officially be called KM Malta Airlines but as the government ownes the Air Malta-brand, the new airline will continue to operate with its current branding. Today, Air Malta is operating a fleet of eight aircraft, consisting of two Airbus A320s and six A320neos. For now, these aircraft will remain in the fleet.

As a result of the closure of Air Malta all current co-workers will loose their job. They do have, however, the possibility to apply for a role in the new airline, although there will be less positions available. The new airline is planning to continue to fly from Malta to Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Catania, Dusseldorf, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Lyon, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Rome, Vienna, and Zurich. The routes to Geneva, Lisbon, Naples, Nice, Palermo, and Tel Aviv will be discontinued. At the same time, it's looking at new services to Copenhagen.

Air Malta was founded in March 1973 and launched operations in April 1974. Over the last years the airline has never been profitable and has been bailed out by the government back in 2004 and 2010, without much success. By closing the old airline and start-over, the government hopes to create a profitable full service carrier.

Interesting to note is that, in 2019, the government also launched a cooperation with Ryanair. This lead to the creation of Malta Air, a new subsidiary of the budget airline and a direct competitor to Air Malta and soon KM Malta Airlines.

Photo by Anton Homma.