Air Malta has announced its Winter 2021 flight schedule, which includes a Business Guaranteed programme that seeks to “ensure connectivity and capacity at market rates for visitors, residents, companies and medical institutions”.

For its winter schedule, Air Malta is planning 156 flights per week across eight aircraft to 21 destinations, 45 per cent fewer weekly flights than last winter. This translates 568,000 seats being made available to the market this winter by Air Malta.

Out of the 156 flights per week, 82 are guaranteed through the Business Guaranteed Programme – meaning the flight will go on despite passenger cancellations – so long as it is legally permissible to do so, meaning there are no flight bans imposed.

Two new routes have been added to the winter schedule, Hamburg and Madrid, while the remaining 19 destinations Air Malta will fly to this winter are as follows: London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Moscow, Prague, Vienna, Zurich, Milan, Rome, Palermo, Catania, Paris Charles De Gaulle, Orly, Lyon, Brussles and Lisbon.

It was confirmed that if Air Malta sees an urgent need to include a new destination, it does not exclude making additions.

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri addressed a press conference on Thursday to make the announcement.

With a second wave of infections raging on throughout Europe and demand for flights again diminishing, the past months have been characterised by several flight cancellations across various airlines.

“In continuously changing circumstances we felt it was important for the client to have peace of mind that he/she will not remain stranded due to cancellation of flights,” Minister Schembri said

The Business Guarantee Programme is designed to ensure that the operation of a network defined on the passengers and cargo movements is guaranteed when legally possible, the Minister added.

This means that Air Malta flights to a number of European destinations will be guaranteed irrespective of cancellations, on conditions that flights can be held lawfully.

During the winter schedule, there will be 156 flights per week, 50 per cent of which will be business guaranteed.

The Minister stressed that this programme will also address employee concerns, including cabin crew, pilots and ground handling, as they will have a guaranteed working schedule during the winter months.

“We do understand employee concerns, and this is one of the ways on how we plan to strike a balance in the interest of Air Malta’s clients and employees.”

In addition, the national carrier is also launching a flexible guaranteed stamp to underline its flexible approach to customer needs. So far, 164,000 requests for refunds, 74 per cent of total requests, have been settled.

He noted that booking fees have been waived, providing greater flexibility for customers to rebook and reschedule flights. Air Malta will no longer be accepting cash onboard its flights.

The Minister added that work is being undertaken to increase occupational efficiency and make ticket fares more competitive in today’s market.