Air Malta (Malta International) is looking to expand into sub-Saharan Africa as it seeks new opportunities outside an increasingly cutthroat European market.
Following the collapse of a takeover bid by Alitalia last year, the state-owned carrier has restructured its operations to improve its profitability and thus render itself more attractive to would-be investors. At present, it operates one A319-100 and nine A320-200s (one of which each is wet-leased from GetJet Airlines and Malta MedAir) with the first of three A320neo due later this summer. It currently serves destinations spanning 18 countries across Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, Russia, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Its only African destinations at present include Tunis and Casablanca Mohamed V.
However, according to Chief Commercial Officer Paul Spies, Air Malta has now set its sights on developing Malta International into an intercontinental transit hub between Africa and Europe. As a corollary, it is also considering setting up bases on other Mediterranean islands.
"I think that it is a public secret that we are looking at how we can re-connect Africa and sub-Saharan Africa with Malta and really create a hub in Malta," he told TVM in an interview last week. "This is one of the strategies we are working on and the other one is, really using the islands in the Mediterranean to connect Malta and Europe, and if you look at the success of what we are doing between Malta, Catania, and Sardinia and London Southend, is a very good example of it, how we are developing the airline, not only to grow in Malta but beyond."
Air Malta is, however, a late entrant into this market as Royal Air Maroc, Air Algérie, and Tunisair have already set in motion their respective plans to tap their own geographical positionings to develop each of Casablanca Mohamed V, Algiers, and Tunis into Europe/Africa transit points. All three operators have substantial West and Central African presences although RAM has an edge given its incoming fleet of B787-9s. Last month, Country Manager (Kenya), Othman Baba, announced RAM's plans to boost its East African coverage beyond Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta to include Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) as well as Harare International (Zimbabwe) and Maputo (Mozambique) in Southern Africa.
