The end of the 2023/24 winter flight schedule period marks the end of an aviation era in the Republic of Malta, as the state-owned carrier Air Malta will cease operations forever. The successor KM Malta Airlines takes over the fleet.

Until September 21, 2024, Malta was a British crown colony. The air traffic was therefore mainly carried out by the then British European Airways, which had a base at Luqa Airport. Nothing changed after independence.

In 1973, the Maltese Parliament passed major changes in the field of aviation. Air Malta was founded as a national airline. In order to be able to provide a certain form of start-up help, the exclusive contracts with British European Airways, which was in the process of merging with British Overseas Airways to form British Airways, were terminated. This meant that the UK-based air carrier could no longer operate a base in Malta.

Numerous Maltese pilots and flight attendants then changed employers and joined the state-owned Air Malta. This took off commercially for the first time on April 1, 1974. At the beginning, the fleet was dominated by Boeing 720Bs, which were already showing their age. Over the almost 50 years of existence, many different types of machines have been operated.

The last 20 years have not been particularly successful financially for Air Malta. The state repeatedly stepped in with cash injections. One of the main reasons for the lousy situation is that the company employs an enormous number of people for the comparatively small fleet. The wage level is very high, which is also thanks to the strong trade unionists. Numerous attempts at renovation were not exactly successful.

The Maltese government is now making a hard cut, not entirely voluntarily, because Air Malta will cease flight operations on March 31, 2024. Not only do they want to massively reduce costs, but due to the requirements of the EU Commission, they are not allowed to pump any additional money into this state carrier. Therefore, a new airline has been founded based on the Alitalia/Ita Airways model under the name KM Malta Airlines, which is supposed to take over seamlessly.

The employees had to reapply for their jobs – with lower wages. From the outset, the government made it clear that the new company would have to make do with fewer employees. Various programs have made it possible to switch to civil service with the same salaries, but the project was also plagued by problems because the wages at Air Malta are significantly higher than those of civil servants. There is also a “hard cut” in the areas of reservations, the frequent flyer program and, in some cases, the route network. KM Malta Airlines was not allowed to simply take over existing bookings. Air Malta will refund and travelers can rebook with the successor if necessary.

Things look different in the fleet area. This will be operated by KM Malta Airlines in the future. There wasn't much effort put into the livery. This is strongly reminiscent of the design of its predecessor. The government has not yet finally decided whether the successor could be renamed Air Malta. This is also very reminiscent of Alitalia, because until the end it was unclear whether they would take off as Ita Airways or as Alitalia.