Air Malta (KM, Malta International) is examining launching new flights to Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa after having posted its first profit in nearly two decades in 2018.

The Times of Malta quoted CEO Clifford Chetcuti as saying that the airline was studying new destinations, including also long-haul services to India.

In the Summer 2019 season, Air Malta will resume services to Cairo International after a 12-year gap (due to be operated 2x weekly from June 3) and will launch a brand new flight to Warsaw Chopin (1x weekly from June 1). The carrier will also add additional frequencies on a number of already served routes in Europe and northern Africa.

In 2018, the Maltese flag carrier posted a EUR1.2 million euro (USD1.4 million) net profit, a stark reversal from a EUR10.8 million euro (USD12.2 million) net loss the year before.

Chetcuti underlined that, notwithstanding the positive result, the carrier could not rest on its laurels and will have to continue to fight against LCC competition. According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) is the largest carrier at Malta International with a 36.9% market share by capacity. Air Malta's share is 31.3%.

The carrier has also reaffirmed its previously announced plan to gradually replace all current generation A320 Family aircraft with A320neo. Air Malta currently operates one A319-100 (due to be phased out in autumn 2019), seven A320-200s (including one wet-leased from sister carrier Malta MedAir), and a single A320-200neo. It is due to dry-lease a further two A320neo in summer 2019 and is also studying A321-200neo(LR) and (XLR) variants for its potential long-haul flights.