With the collapse last week of talks with Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) over the possible sale of a 49% stake in Air Malta (Malta International), so several firms and investors have stepped forward to cast their respective hats into the circle over the possibility of becoming a shareholder in the Maltese state-owned carrier.
In an interview with the MaltaToday newspaper published on Sunday, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis confirmed that all options were now on the table, including the possibility of bringing local investors onboard.
Zammit Lewis also insisted that besides the current short-listed companies, other options were available to the government.
“We have never excluded other options," he said. "We do not exclude the possibility of reaching agreements with other airlines, nor even to turn to local investment, as some have suggested."
A report in Malta's it-Torca, which referenced unnamed sources, said Zammit Lewis had neither confirmed nor denied talks with Air China (CA, Beijing Capital) nor with Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport). Both are understood to have already reached out to government following Friday's announcement issued in both Rome and Valletta.
Air China was linked to Air Malta back in late 2013/14 but nothing is known to have come of those discussions.
Although the full privatisation of Air Malta has been excluded, the Maltese government is looking for a strategic investor capable of turning the loss-making carrier into a profitable entity.
