Nationalist Party evasive over Gozo airstrip

The PN will only pronounce itself on whether it agrees with a Gozo airstrip outside development zones (ODZ) when the government publishes all studies related to the development.

The Gozo airstrip was one of a string of projects listed by both Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and Gozo spokesperson Chris Said as having been promised by the finance minister in previous budget speeches, but never delivered. 

The development of an airstrip at Ta’ Lambert in Xewkija was initially favoured by Joseph Muscat’s government but was subsequently put on the back-burner and was not even mentioned in this year’s budget.

While Gozo business sectors have lobbied for this development, environmentalists have consistently opposed it due to its take-up of agricultural land outside development zones.

MaltaToday asked the PN to state its position on whether an airstrip should be developed in Gozo and whether it excludes the development of an airstrip on ODZ and agricultural land.

A spokesperson for the party refrained from taking a clear stance, throwing the ball back in the government’s court.

“The airstrip project was listed in all Labour budgets since 2014 but strangely omitted this year without any explanation. The government has never published any of its studies and reports on its plans for an airstrip and therefore the Opposition is not able to assess them in order to form an opinion about the economic and environmental feasibility of this project. Such is the lack of transparency of the current government”.

This adds another twist to the Gozo airstrip saga, which has been ongoing for the past two decades.

Before the general election in February 2013 Joseph Muscat declared that the Gozo airstrip was “not a priority”, and that a helicopter service and a fast-ferry service between Mgarr and Valletta would be considered instead. 

But in a consultation meeting in July 2013 the Tourism Ministry announced that the government was considering a new 400-metre or 650-metre airstrip in Gozo in the Tal-Lambert area. 

In November 2013, the government confirmed that talks were ongoing with an “Italian company” on an air link between Malta, Gozo and Sicily, and funds for a study on an airstrip were included in the national budget. 

Plans were also forwarded to Brussels for a 900-metre-long rural airfield in Gozo with the aim of tapping into EU funding for the estimated €14 million project.

The airstrip – capable of handling both internal flights and air traffic from the surrounding regions – was meant to be completed by 2017. The document sent to the EU had stated that a new airstrip could more than double Gozo’s tourist arrivals.

In January 2014 works commenced to clear rubble and dumping in the area but the government denied that this was being done to clear the way for a runway. But the Gozo Business Chamber and the Gozo Tourism Association both welcomed this development and are looking forward to having fixed-wing routes to Gozo. 

In March 2014 Joseph Muscat announced that the government was considering the construction of a grass airstrip in Gozo but the government would first need to evaluate the environmental impact. One of the advantages of a grass airstrip according to Muscat is that it would be reversible. But the completed feasibility study has never been published or presented to parliament. Following the backlash on proposed ODZ development in Zonqor, the airstrip disappeared from the government’s radar.

The airstrip saga

The airstrip saga dates back to the 1990s when an application was presented by the army to develop an airstrip in Gozo, prompting protests by Alternattiva Demokratika and green NGOs. Stopping the application for the Gozo airstrip was one of Alfred Sant’s first decisions as prime minister in 1996, after withdrawing the country from NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme and freezing EU membership. 

After being dropped by Sant, the project was put on the back burner by Eddie Fenech Adami after he was re-elected in 1998. It was now Labour MP Anton Refalo who repeatedly called for the publication of studies related to the feasibility of an airstrip.  While Refalo pushed for the project, Labour MP Justyne Caruana remained opposed. 

In February 2010 Roderick Galdes, then shadow minister for planning, announced that the development of an airstrip would be one of the options a Labour government would consider to ensure better connectivity between Malta and Gozo.

But just as Labour warmed to the airstrip the PN government became more skeptical. 

While not excluding the project completely, former tourism and environment minister Mario de Marco raised doubts on its sustainability. “One also needs to consider whether an airstrip in Gozo and enhanced accessibility can actually impact negatively the perception of the island that lures tourists to it,” De Marco told MaltaToday in 2010.