MaltaMedia.com

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) welcomes the much awaited approval by the European Commission for Air Malta’s restructuring plan and state aid. Earlier this year MHRA supported Air Malta’s restructuring plan and had presented the case to the Commission that Air Malta is a pivotal to the sustainability of the Maltese tourism industry.

MHRA had stressed that the recession had put immense pressure on the level of profitability of hotels and catering establishments, which would only be further exacerbated by any negative Commission decision in the Air Malta case.

While welcoming the EU’s decision, Mr Tony Zahra, MHRA President, stated that, “the most important and challenging factors affecting the industry’s sustainability and economic growth are accessibility and seat capacity. Consequently it must be ensured that the restructuring of Air Malta and the prospective establishment of new routes continue to ensure the sustainability of the tourism industry at a minimum to that registered in 2011 levels, for then to further aim for growth to make up for the naturally drop in the average length of stay.”

The MHRA stresses that Air Malta must retain this pivotal role in the tourism industry, with a minimum 55% share of the incoming tourism market to Malta