Ryanair and local subsidiary Malta Air ‘important contributors’ to surge in connectivity – MTA CEO

On Wednesday, Ryanair announced its “biggest ever schedule for Malta”, with 66 routes, including four new routes to Baden (Germany), East Midlands (England), Memmingen (Germany) and Stockholm (Sweden).

Commenting on the news, Malta Tourism Authority CEO Carlo Micallef remarked that following a successful 2022, which saw around 2.3 million arrivals, “we are looking forward to an even stronger recovery during 2023, which should get us very close to 2019 record results”.

The CEO added that the Authority’s positive attitude is underpinned by “strong airline capacity increases both in terms of number of routes, and in terms of frequencies”.

“Ryanair and its Maltese subsidiary Malta Air are importance contributors to this surge in airline connectivity and the announcement of their Summer 2023 schedule is testament to their faith in the regrowing of Malta’s important tourism industry.”

In its announcement, Ryanair also said that it increased frequencies on 20 other popular routes to/from capital cities.

Ryanair said that it’s Malta Summer ‘23 schedule will deliver:

– 6 based aircraft ($600M investment), incl. 4 Gamechangers

– 66 routes incl. 4 new routes to Baden, East Midlands, Memmingen, and Stockholm

– Increased frequencies on 20+ routes, incl. Barcelona, Ciampino, Catania, Milan, Valencia, and Vienna

– 470+ weekly flights (+26 per cent growth vs S22)

– 3.5 million passengers to/from Malta p.a.

– Supp. over 3,000 local jobs, incl. direct pilot, cabin crew & engineering jobs

It added that this summer, Ryanair will operate over 470 weekly flights to/from Malta, “supporting the recovery of inbound tourism to pre COVID levels and offering its Malta citizens/visitors the widest choice and the lowest fares when booking their summer getaways.”

On his part, Malta Air CEO David O’Brien commented: “With this record 2023 schedule underpinned by Ryanair’s 6 based aircraft – a $600m investment in Malta and supporting over 3,000 local jobs including highly paid pilot, cabin crew & engineering jobs – Ryanair continues to deliver more growth and lower fares than any other airline in Malta and Europe.”