Airline Says No To 2007 Malta Flights

This year has started well for the Malta holidays and hotel industry, with an increase in visitors for the first few months compared to 2006 - a good indication that if the off peak season is doing well the rest of the year could also see good gains in holiday tourists to the Mediterranean island.

The measurable increase for the first months of 2007 has come just a couple of months since Ryanair started low cost flights to Malta from London's Luton Airport to the island, and later months could be boosted further after Ryanair started flying from Dublin to Malta as well.

Overall some predictions estimate that Malta will benefit in the 2007 holiday season by an extra 80,000 tourists, reversing the decline of recent years.

The airline had to wait some time for the Maltese authorities to finally relent and give the green light for the flights to start, with concern at one stage that if the low cost airlines walked away from the negotiating table that the island would slip from a mainstream holiday destination to one catering for specialist groups of travellers.

But hopes that popular low cost airline easyJet would provide further impetus for the Malta holiday trade seems to have been dashed with reports in the island's press that talks have stalled, and a proposed London Gatwick route has been shelved.

A new low cost London Gatwick route would have provided competition for the island's national airline, Air Malta, and possibly have reduced the cost of flying to Malta further.

Malta Flights

Gatwick is located on the borders of Surrey and West Sussex and close to South and West London that would provide Malta with the possibility of extra affluent holiday makers.

In response to the arrival of Ryanair though, Air Malta has been offering reduced fares of its own, and has tried to defend her market share of the UK travelling public by starting a new route from Liverpool's John Lennon Airport in the North-West of England.

The suggested reason for Malta turning down the possibility of a new low cost route from the UK is that London Gatwick does have tour operators offering their own flights, either as part of a package, or on a seat only sale.

With the arrival of more holidaymakers, the possibility of increased property sales to overseas buyers becomes more of a reality as well, so the real estate sector as well as the holiday market is keeping a keen eye on arrival figures for the months ahead.

Some UK overseas property agencies who deal with property in Malta think that property prices could rise in 2007.

'With lower fares, Malta becomes a destination viable for 3 and 4 days trips a few times a year from the UK, and that will attract buyers to look at Malta in the same way they do France and Spain when considering where to buy a holiday home abroad. The weather in Malta and low fares could be a magnet for buyers', commented one recently,

There is a warning however from some that property prices on the island might not necessarily escalate in the same way that regions of France have seen when low cost airlines have started flying to their region.