The new airline initially operated six former Ryanair aircraft.[4] Ryanair planned to assign 66 routes it operates to and from Malta to this new airline and there were plans to grow the network beyond that.[5] However, these plans were revised in May 2020, when redundancy for one third of the full complement of 179 pilots and cabin crew was announced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
History
On 9 June 2019, Ryanair announced together with the Government of Malta that they were to set up a subsidiary airline called Malta Air, which was to consist of an initial fleet of 6 aircraft and operate the existing 61 flights operated by Ryanair from the island. The fleet was to be registered in Malta while a new repair and maintenance hangar was also to be set up.[7][8] Ryanair was to transfer all its existing Maltese operations to the new airline with its fleet increasing from 6 to 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft and all in Malta Air colours by mid-2020.[9]
News aggregator Corporate Dispatch reported the first sighting of a Ryanair aircraft displaying an "operated by Malta Air" sticker just outside its front passenger door on 20 June 2019 at Stansted Airport.[10] By the end of September 2019, further reports of Malta Air branding on Ryanair flights were being reported, including safety cards on the back of all passenger seats, as well as flight attendant and cockpit announcements,[citation needed] even though no further official notice of this was circulated to the general public.
When faced with the Covid-19 crisis in May 2020, Malta Air announced substantial redundancies for its pilots and cabin crew, after first proposing a 10% salary cut.[11] Around 20 pilots and 40 cabin crew from the full complement of 179 pilots and cabin crew had their employment terminated from 30 June 2020.[6]
In July 2021, Malta Air received its first Boeing 737 MAX 200. The aircraft, registered as 9H-VUA, was the first to be painted in the Malta Air livery.[citation needed] It was also the first aircraft to be delivered directly to Malta Air from the manufacturer, as its previous Boeing 737-800 aircraft had been transferred from its parent, Ryanair.
Destinations
The company has planned to operate 66 routes from its Malta International Airport base starting in 2020.[12] In addition to all the former Ryanair routes to and from Malta, Malta Air has added these destinations: Paphos in Cyprus; Brindisi, Trapani, and Trieste in Italy; Niš in Serbia; and Santiago de Compostela in Spain.[13] Malta Air will also operate a service between Dublin and Vienna from 1 April 2020.[14] Malta Air now operates the majority of Ryanair routes from/to Milan Bergamo Airport.[citation needed] Malta Air now operates Ryanair's bases in Italy, Germany, Romania, France and partially Sweden on behalf of Ryanair, including Bologna (BLQ).
