New online portal for Air Malta in 2013

Air Malta announced it will be launching its new website early next year.

It said the new portal will include enhancements to its booking engine and provide a framework for the updating and the re-launching of a range of Air Malta services.

The airline said this is another step in the airline's restructuring initiatives aimed at offering customers a better online experience.

"The new website, which will take advantage of new technical improvements available on the market, will embrace social media functionality to offer a richer media experience and better promote both the Maltese islands and the airline," Air Malta said.

The site will be re-designed to offer a one-stop-shop to customers through a range of online booking and payment facilities that include Air Malta flights, a wide selection of hotel accommodation in Malta and car hire.

The website will be available in six languages (Maltese, English, French, German, Italian and Russian), and will be redesigned in a way as to provide a clear content structure and better aesthetic design.

It will use location-recognition technology whereby clients from different countries will be presented with targeted content and advertising according to their geographic location.

With integrated social and business-intelligence tools, Air Malta will also be able to detect behavioural patterns that will allow it to better shape its product-offering to convert its visitors into loyal customers.

The local firm ICON, which will develop the new site, was selected following a comprehensive request for information and a request for proposals procedure,.

The airline said both local and foreign organisations competed in this process which was headed by a team from the commercial, IT and the project management office.

Currently www.airmalta.com attracts 15,000 daily visits with over 10,000 online bookings every month.