David Curmi : That’s not an easy question. My personal opinion is that the operations need to be driven by eco- nomic and commercial. I mean, this is a very difficult business, as we all know. It is also a very complex busi- ness, but the margins are very thin. And unless airlines are managed as commercial companies, it would be very, very difficult for any airline to survive if there is significant political intrusion. I am not at all suggesting that particularly with flag carriers, I am not at all sug- gesting that a national airline should work completely independently and outside politics. I don't think that can ever work in a country like Malta, where there is a real political issue for the country to get on that airline. In the case of our new airline, we also had to, although we have established it on very strong commercial prin- ciples, we also had to align the strategy, particularly the connectivity strategy, with the strategy of the country. So, in my opinion, a national airline has a very big eco- nomic impact that goes far beyond its operations, par- ticularly in a country like ours, where 99% of people tra- vel to Malta by air. So, in the case of KM Malta Airlines, we consider our airline to be a critical piece of infra- structure, because it is really linked to the economic interests and success of our islands. Class & Relax Lifestyle Magazine : Tourism is an impor- tant factor for your economy and Malta is known to be a mass tourism destination, with all the problems that this causes, yet you need to have as many passengers as possible. Do you plan to attract a more upmarket clientele through your services? David Curmi : Yes, I very much believe that for a num- ber of reasons. First of all, we are not a low-cost carrier. We operate all flights except one with a two-cabin confi- guration. So, we're offering both economy class and business class, and we think that by just doing that, we are contributing to attracting better quality visitors to our island. Secondly, we have a number of very impor- tant code-share agreements, which low-cost airlines don't have, with the Lufthansa Group, with KLM, with ITA, with airBaltic, with Emirates, with Qatar. Through these agreements, we are enhancing our indirect connectivity strategy by making a number of destina- tions available to travellers that are only one airport away from us, basically, and with a single ticket. So, we do a lot of connectivity business through Amsterdam, Heathrow, Rome and Munich mainly, Charles de Gaulle of course, because we only fly to major airports.We fly to all the connecting hubs. We have completed our fleet renewal completely. They are identical aircraft, they are homogeneous, all with the same engines, with the same configuration. We will operate eight A320neos with 180 seats and with an average age of just two and a half years. These are, as you know, considered to be the most efficient aircraft.
And we're also looking forward : this also puts us in a very good place to achieve our sustainability targets. In the first year, we expect to carry 2.08 million passen- gers. So, our aircraft have a very intense flying schedule : they are flying 12 hours per day, a bit more. We start early in the morning with our first wave of flights that go out at 6 o'clock and then we do our second wave late morning and afternoon. Our strategy is to fly to 17 air- ports in 15 countries with a focus on Western Europe and this seems to be working well because we have very high seat load factors. And we've also changed completely our fare families and our product offerings. We are one of the few airlines now to be offering four options in economy and four ticket options in business class as well. So, if you want to jump on one of our air- crafts and book a business class ticket, we offer you four options, with the cheapest being no luggage, no VIP lounges, no business class lounges. If you have an urgent meeting in Rome, Rome is just one hour away from Malta, you can book a business class and come back in the evening and it's a cheaper fare. So, we've enhanced our product offerings considerably and with also a focus on ancillary revenue. We start from a basic price and then each customer can personalize his or her fare depending on the requirements. We're a smaller airline. We can never expect to fly eve- rywhere. We no longer have a summer and winter schedule : we will operate it for 12 months and we are committed not to cancel any routes. Malta, besides having a very large tourism industry, also has other industries. We have manufacturing, financial services, gaming, and these businesses run all year round. So, we're not just a sun island, you know. We have other important economic sectors.
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