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26-Nov-2012 12:24 PM

Air Malta in improved situation, considers importance of alliances and strategic network expansion

Air Malta CEO Peter Davis stated (23-Nov-2012) the carrier is in a "far better position" than it was 18 months ago but "we are not out of the woods". He noted, "This time two years ago, Air Malta was effectively bankrupt.Had it not been for the intervention of the Maltese Government and the €52 million emergency loan, the airline would have closed down. At that time few realised the state Air Malta was in". He said the carrier's restructuring plan envisages in 2012, it will halve losses from 2011 levels, with a breakeven result targeted for 2013. He added, "Such results have not and are not being achieved by chance. We had to manage the airline differently. We spearheaded our famous 162 projects that span across the airline. Air Malta's restructuring was never simply a question of decreasing the workforce, which was admittedly important in terms of costs, but also of encouraging employees and unions to think differently in terms of processes and procedures. We have reviewed every single aspect of the company in terms of processes - our ground and passenger handling, our engineering, our marketing, how we fly our airplanes and each individual department to reengineer our business processes. We have been reassessing many of our contracts with major suppliers to reflect the changes we want in Air Malta". He stressed how essential Air Malta is for the whole country and its economy but said "due to this restructuring Air Malta is evidently restricted in terms of what it can do with new route accessibility". The carrier is, however, "looking into future opportunities, both in Europe and beyond that can be implemented once the company is in a better financial position. We are looking specifically at Eastern Europe and Africa and in fact have already enhanced our business to Russia. We continue to look out for these opportunities". He also noted the need to "create alliances with other operators provided these are fair and on a level playing field". [more - original PR]

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