Tonio Fenech pays tribute to emerging aviation business in Malta

Finance minister Tonio Fenech said Malta was committed to improve the fundamentals that have made it an attractive location to do business, in an address to the Aircraft Engineers International's annual congress.

Fenech paid tribute to the government's "careful strategic planning" which had resulted in an aviation industrial park and educational cooperation with MCAST to supply highly-qualified skilled labour to meet the increased demand by industry.

The minister reminded his audience that over 160 'projects' were underway in a bid to restructure national airline Air Malta's cargo, in-flight, finance, corporate and financial sectors.

"Established almost 40 years ago, it has faced significant challenges over the past years. These included the prominent rise of the low cost realities, soaring fuel costs, and changing patterns in consumers' travelling habits. However, there is widespread agreement that Air Malta is vital for the economy and this is why a substantial restructuring programme is being implemented, following approval by the European Commission," Fenech said.

"Positively, we have started seeing tangible results from Air Malta, as a first profit was registered precisely last month. These results support our confidence of seeing Air Malta as a strong, competitive national airline."

Over the past decade, Malta's aviation industry has developed an airline repair and maintenance branch that has seen investment from Lufthansa Technik and SR Technik, together with a number of smaller companies. Lufthansa's €60 million hangar employs over 600, besides servicing its foremost customer Deutsche Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik Malta boasts of a growing and diversified portfolio of third party customers such as Etihad, Aegean Airliens, Windjet, Spanair, BMI, Germanwings, Clickair, Air One, STC Russiya and SAS.

In 2009, Malta welcomed SR Technics, another leading aviation maintenance company in Europe based in Zurich, in order to service easyJet's aircraft fleet following a 10-year aircraft maintenance deal between SR Technics and easyJet.

Malta's €17 million aviation park also awaits a new Dutch company that will expand its aviation cosmetics business to Malta.