Air Malta is gearing up for a promising summer season, showing the beginnings of a return to normality with short and medium term bookings strong.

Speaking to WhosWho.mt shortly after the airline’s summer schedule was launched, Roy Kinnear, Air Malta’s Chief Commercial Officer, provided insights on booking trends so far for the period.

He noted that the airline is “very pleased” with the booking levels it has recorded in the past six weeks, which reflect a strong outlook for the next 90 days.

While this indicates some lingering reluctance for travellers to book flights long in advance, Mr Kinnear explained that for Air Malta, this is still promising, considering that the months being booked are traditionally considered to be off-peak/ shoulder months.

Despite the promising booking numbers, he explained that ticket pricing is still “under pressure,” due to the relaunch of many other airlines’ operations.

Indeed, one of Air Malta’s competitors, leading European budget airline Ryanair, announced that it would be connecting Malta directly with nine new destinations, as part of a “record” schedule operating 190 weekly flights, 60 more than in 2019.

In a statement announcing Air Malta's schedule launch, Mr Kinnear reflected: “Over the last months we have worked hard to put in place a stronger and expanded sales and distribution strategy, signing more agreements with key sales representatives in various markets and relaunching our website and booking engine amongst other initiatives.

“I am optimistic that these changes, together with the strong demand for travel this year, will support us to have a great summer.”

This summer Air Malta will be operating direct flights to Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Catania, Dusseldorf, Geneva, Paris Charles De Gaulle, Paris Orly, Rome Fiumicino, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Madrid, Milan Linate, Munich, Lyon, Prague, Vienna, and Zurich.