Speculation in the international airline industry that Air Malta is to be sold to Etihad
The Airline Network News and Analysis site carried a story two days ago with the headline:
40-something Air Malta continues to focus on inbound leisure traffic; next on Etihad’s shopping list?
Etihad is the flag-carrier airline established by royal command in the United Arab Emirates. The extensive report on Air Malta winds up with:
When consulting anna.aero’s New Route Database, there are currently no new routes planned for Air Malta — but what money on Abu Dhabi being next? While neither Air Malta nor Etihad Airways currently flies between Malta and Abu Dhabi, on 18 July, the two airline’s expanded their codeshare agreement. Who knows, perhaps Air Malta will be next on Etihad CEO James Hogan’s shopping list once he has concluded his ongoing business in Italy.
17 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
http://www.anna.aero/2014/07/23/air-malta-next-on-etihad-airways-airline-shopping-list/
http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2014/07/16/alitalia-etihad-chiudere-entro-fine-mese-ma-nuovo-contratto-e-muro/1061779/
Alitalia to lay off 2,000 employees, reduce pilots’ salaries by up to 1,500 euros a month and trim the airline down to essentially a cargo carrier.
Still, Hogan says he won’t sign unless he has a road map. Nothing to worry about then.
Our Joseph will surely have one ready for him when he comes to discuss Air Malta. Road maps are his specialty, although they only seem to lead down blind alleys.
Viva l-fireworks: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140725/local/updated-major-thoroughfares-to-close-for-traffic-for-sta-venera-feast-this-weekend.529198
A dish set to become part of Maltese cuisine;
Froga a la Mizzi.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140726/local/talks-with-preferred-bus-bidder-yet-to-begin.529240
It will be a favourite with transport operators and bus drivers.
Good one, if only Minister Joe Mizzi could even dream of cooking a well-tasting froga in the first place.
Well he might be the minister responsible for Land, Sea and Air Transport. Responsible for Malta’s infrastructure too! But his favourite responsibility, oil exploration his ultimate dream!
He cannot get one thing right, let alone all the above. Prediction, next one on the chopping board, and Superminister Konrad Mizzi takes over.
Doesn’t the airline’s establishing charter preclude majority foreign ownership of this kind?
“The licence was granted subject to the condition that the substantial ownership and effective control of the airline would, at all times, be held and exercised by the Government of Malta and/or by citizens of Malta and/or by companies incorporated under the laws of Malta and controlled by citizens of Malta.”
[Daphne – There’s nothing to stop the government changing that. A government decision can be reversed or undone by another government decision.]
Rumours also abound with respect to the future of the present corps of bus drivers. It appears that government will lay off all the drivers. Once the Spanish deal is finalised only a few of these drivers will be rehired.
If Etihad buys Air Malta, we will be joining a stable of companies which will soon include Alitalia.
Thousands of jobs had to be reduced from the Alitalia inflated workforce and the unions in Italy were up in arms against this deal.
Will the GWU be passive on such a deal?
If there is any truth in this story, and if it does materialise, the GWU will remain passive as Labour is in power.
In my opinion the GWU’s loyalty lies first and foremost with the Labour Party. It’s members well being is secondary.
If part sale ever materialises we can expect a significant reduction in the route structure as all unprofitable routes will be axed. This in turn will lead to a reduction in the number of aircraft needed and as a result many redundancies.
Is Labour ready for this under it’s watch? I doubt it. I would be more inclined to think that the government will endeavour to reach an agreement with some corrupt nation whilst on paper retaining some iota of control over the company’s route structure and employee numbers.
All this said, I doubt they have the necessary cash flow to afford them the luxury of time to shop around for the best possible deal.
Forget GWU, they are the PL’s union forget the workers’ union! Ha, what a joke!
Well I always say that the workers’ greatest ally is the PN in government. Its the only time when the GWU wakes up.
RAI news this morning said that talks with Etihad have ground to a halt. Something to do with the unions, I gathered.
Well, here Big Tony seems to be hibernating with a large plate of pasta, or on long leave lasting another 4 years.
Betteridge’s law of headlines is an adage that states: “Any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_Law_of_Headlines#cite_note-1
Getting a foreign company to run the public transport system: Bad. Grounds for revolution. Evil government must be removed.
Selling the national flag carrier to a foreign company: Good. Foreigners showing interest. Excellent government attracting foreign investment.
Amen Hallelujah.
This is all thanks to the arrogant contracts given out in the last decade or so. Shame. Saw my job simply waste away. L-aqwa li ma kienx xi cuc Malti. The non cuc foreign expert was great…in getting his team of friends a well paid job and changing the livery. Wow….super brais lol.