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KM Malta Airlines

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Not to be confused with Malta Air, Air Malta, or KLM.

KM Malta Airlines
IATA ICAO Call sign
KM KMM SKY KNIGHT
Founded2 October 2023; 14 months ago (2023-10-02)
Commenced operations31 March 2024; 8 months ago (2024-03-31)
AOC #MT-80
HubsMalta International Airport
Fleet size8
Destinations17
Parent companyGovernment of Malta
HeadquartersLuqa, Malta
Websitewww.kmmaltairlines.com

KM Malta Airlines Ltd is the flag carrier of Malta headquartered in Luqa. It replaced its predecessor Air Malta on 31 March 2024 and serves destinations around Europe from its hub at Malta International Airport.[1]

History

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Closure of Air Malta

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Main article: Air Malta

Air Malta struggled financially since its creation in 1973 ultimately leading to its demise.[2] Before its closure, Air Malta was reportedly facing a loss of €30 million.[3] European Union regulations preclude companies from receiving state aid more than once within 10-year periods.[4] The chronically loss-making company had last received a state aid injection in 2012 and was again requesting aid in 2021 following the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.[5][6]

In August 2022, the government announced it would dissolve Air Malta should the European Union deny further financial state aid to the airline. It would then move its assets to a succeeding carrier.[7] Shortly after, the decision regarding the airline's future was delayed to the end of 2022; however, the route network and frequencies saw extensive cuts by October 2022, including the termination of several destinations.[8]

The European Union announced in April 2023 that it would not allow the Maltese government to inject 290 million euros of state aid into the airline.[9] In October, the government announced that Air Malta would cease operations at the end of March 2024 to be replaced by a new company, KM Malta Airlines, thereby side-stepping EU regulations on state aid.[1][10]

Launch of KM Malta Airlines

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During a press conference in October 2023, Robert Abela, the prime minister of Malta, stated that the newly recapitalized KM Malta Airlines would retain Air Malta’s current fleet of eight Airbus A320 aircraft, even though the European Union initially wanted a reduction. Its initial route map included flights to 17 airports in 15 key European cities from Malta: Amsterdam (AMS), Berlin (BER), Brussels (BRU), Catania (CTA), Dusseldorf (DUS), London (LGW & LHR), Lyon (LYS), Madrid (MAD), Milan (LIN), Munich (MUC), Paris (CDG & ORY), Prague (PRG), Rome (FCO), Vienna (VIE), and Zurich (ZRH).[11] Air Malta operated to 37 destinations as recently as 2019.[12]

It was also announced that the new airline will employ approximately 390 employees and will eventually phase out the early retirement schemes of Air Malta within the next four years. Refunds were offered starting November 1, 2023 for those with booked Air Malta flights beyond March 30. Booking for flights with the new airline after March 31 went on sale on December 1 2023. Those who accumulated air miles could be paid starting February 2024.[1]

While the airline plans to eventually fly under Air Malta branding, the government was unable to fulfill its pledge that it would be able to do so at launch with the procurement process yet to be launched when the airline began flying.[13] The new airline would be able to rent the Air Malta branding from the government[note 1] after a competitive process so its aircraft could fly under the Air Malta brand and the aircraft livery would continue to incorporate the Maltese Cross.[14] Malta's finance minister, Clyde Caruana, announced that when the new airline is financially stable and making a profit, the government will begin the process of looking into partially privatizing the airline with the government remaining as majority shareholder.[3]

On the day KM Malta Airlines launched, Illum reported that applicants for cabin crew positions were no longer required to be fluent in Maltese.[15] This sparked outrage from the Nationalist Party and other politicians.[16][17][18] Prime Minister Robert Abela was asked about this controversy during a press conference and stated that he expects cabin crew to speak Maltese and that it would be added as a prerequisite.[19]

Destinations

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As of November 2024, KM Malta Airlines flies to the following destinations:[12][20]

Country City Airport Notes
Austria Vienna Vienna International Airport
Belgium Brussels Brussels Airport
Czech Republic Prague Václav Havel Airport Prague
France Lyon Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Orly Airport
Germany Berlin Berlin Brandenburg Airport
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Airport
Munich Munich Airport
Italy Catania Catania–Fontanarossa Airport
Milan Linate Airport
Rome Rome Fiumicino Airport
Malta Malta Malta International Airport Hub
Netherlands Amsterdam Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Spain Madrid Madrid–Barajas Airport
Switzerland Zurich Zurich Airport
United Kingdom London Gatwick Airport
Heathrow Airport

Codeshare agreements

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KM Malta Airlines currently has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

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As of July 2024, KM Malta Airlines operates the following aircraft:[26]

KM Malta Airlines fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
J Y Total
Airbus A320neo 8 — 36 132 168
Total 8 —

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Through the government-owned firm IP Holdings.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Zammit, Mark Laurence (2 October 2023). "New airline replacing Air Malta to fly on March 31, 2024". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024.
  2. ^ Calleja, Marianna (3 October 2023). "Finance Minister: Air Malta demise is a result of bad management by all governments". MaltaToday. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Sansone, Kurt (30 September 2023). "End of the road for Air Malta as new national carrier beckons after Brussels refuses bailout option". MaltaToday. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Air Malta plan foiled by State Aid rules". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  5. ^ CPI (27 June 2012). "Air Malta's 130 million euros of restructuring aid approved". PYMNTS.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Bernard Grech: EU is 'not believing' government on Air Malta". Times of Malta. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  7. ^ Nowack, Timo (19 August 2022). "Air Malta droht die Auflösung" [Air Malta threatened with dissolution]. aeroTELEGRAPH (in German). Archived from the original on 4 November 2023.
  8. ^ Mizzi, Amely (25 September 2022). "Air Malta kürzt Winterflugplan 2022/23 stark" [Air Malta cuts winter flight schedule 2022/23 significantly]. Aviation.Direct (in German). Archived from the original on 4 November 2023.
  9. ^ Meilak, Nicole (18 April 2023). "Air Malta chief confirms airline will be replaced by end of year". MaltaToday. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023.
  10. ^ "New national airline fails to inherit 'Air Malta' name despite government pledge". Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  11. ^ [httpss://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2024-03-31/local-news/KM-Malta-Airlines-takes-over-as-national-airline-and-operates-its-first-flights-6736259866 "KM Malta Airlines takes over as national airline and operates its first flights - The Malta Independent"]. www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  12. ^ a b Urpani, David Grech; Cilia, Johnathan (2 October 2023). "Air Malta's Final Flight Will Be On 30th March 2024 As New, Downsized National Airline Announced". Lovin Malta. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023.
  13. ^ "New national airline fails to inherit 'Air Malta' name despite government pledge". Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  14. ^ Montebello, Sean (10 October 2023). "Air Malta no longer accepts bookings it can't fulfill following The Shift's report". The Shift News. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Il-linja nazzjonali tiskarta l-obbligu tal-Malti bħala lingwa". Illum.com.mt. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  16. ^ "PN slams new airline for reportedly dropping Maltese rule for cabin crew". Times of Malta. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  17. ^ "New airline drops Maltese language due to '80%' of passengers being foreign". Times of Malta. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  18. ^ Mifsud, Claire (1 April 2024). "KM Malta: Żewġ MPE Laburisti fost dawk li kkundannaw it-tneħħija tal-Malti". Newsbook.
  19. ^ "[Bil-Filmat] Abela jgħid li KM Malta għandu jkollha ekwipaġġ li jitkellem bil-Malti". Illum.com.mt. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  20. ^ Dunn, Graham (2 October 2023). "Government to launch successor carrier to Air Malta in March 2024". FlightGlobal. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Codeshare & interline partners | airBaltic". www.airbaltic.com. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  22. ^ "KM Malta Airlines and Air France sign codeshare deal". AeroTime. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d Cousins, Felicity (31 January 2023). "KM Malta Airlines to launch with Lufthansa Group codeshare". BTN Europe.
  24. ^ "KM Malta Airlines e ITA Airways siglano accordo di codeshare". Corriere di Malta. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  25. ^ "KM Malta Airlines announces KLM codeshare as it prepares to take off". Times of Malta. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  26. ^ "About Us - Our Fleet". KM Malta Airlines.
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