[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Route development potential: Italy[/FONT] [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]by Matthias A. Merzhäuser[/FONT]
Due to high fuel costs, airlines serving Malta have been rationalizing their route network on longer routes. With the shift towards low-cost-carrier style, the “under two flight hour rule” will become more necessary to follow. Malta’s only major EU source market really meeting this is Italy. Air Malta operates all Italy flights as code-shares with Air One, the number two Italian carrier, so it has a strong Italian marketing/distribution channel partner. Below, potential moves regarding mainland Italy will be sketched, followed by a discussion of potential opportunities of the new Sicilian airport of Comiso for Malta and Gozo flights.
Milan area
As Alitalia now concentrates on Rome as its hub, it has stopped the daily Milan-Malpensa run. Air Malta stepped in, as well as Italian low-cost carrier Volareweb. Alitalia had operated a daily flight; Volareweb does three a week. Alitalia had carried quite some transit volume and a good share of the volume representing the four other flights has been shifted primarily via Munich, which explains a good share of the growth there. Today Milan is basically a point-to-point route for the whole north and northwest, covering also, for example,. Torino sufficiently well.
Taking a swift look at the Alps, Malpensa also serves as a gateway to Malta for both the Swiss Ticino and the Wallis (via Simplon railway tunnel plus year-round-open pass road). For the Wallis it means better fares than flying from Geneva and, from many places, it is the same distance or even shorter (like for example Brig). The seasonal Geneva route is often routed via Catania. At first glance Air Malta is aggressively or what buzzword making use of EU membership. But apparently the load for Malta is insufficient, so Sicily traffic is taken along too. As discussed in The Malta Independent on Sunday of 13 January, one might consider Easyjet turning the service into year-round, with two or three weekly flights depending on the season, and Air Malta continuing with a summer serial charter. Back to Italy.
While Easyjet, now with a massive presence in Malpensa, operates the ex-GB Airways Manchester and London runs apparently without subsidy, this does not mean that they do so otherwise. Ryanair is a long-time operator in Milan-Bergamo. But for Milan there is no justification for creating an unlevel playing field against Air Malta. Encouraging Volareweb instead of Ryanair or Easyjet was thus correct: one has diversified the range of operators in the foreign low-cost carrier field to lessen dependency, one has a carrier from catchment area, and one acknowledges the reality of the seasonal character, thus not putting the year-round carrier under undue pressure during the lean season. Unlike others, Italian low-cost carriers are not asking all the time for, well, “embraces”.
If Volareweb does not return, an option could be shifting to low-cost airline Myair (My Way Airlines, trading as Myair), main base Milan-Bergamo and a Bombardier CRJ900 operator. With 90 seats, this very fuel-efficient jet has half the capacity of the Volareweb Airbus A320. One could even fly thrice weekly with CRJ900 in winter, and, in summer either thrice weekly with an A320 (also in Myair fleet) like Volareweb did this year, or even daily with a CRJ900.
Myair might be less complicated to arrange than Ryanair, which demands fat subsidies and requires massive State involvement. The Italian carrier would be less threatening to Air Malta in Malpensa due to a more balanced capacity and level playing field. Additionally it has a very interesting Italian network, see www.myair.com, so they could fill the void if others were to pull out elsewhere. Myair has 15 ultra-fuel-efficient 100-seat CRJ1000s (stretch of the already fuel-efficient CRJ900) on order. With low unit cost and smaller capacity aircraft Myair can offer higher frequency and/or is more flexible to keep routes open/develop new routes at low fares due to half the marketing risk of competitors using double as big planes, while with their A320 they can (seasonally) upgrade.
The northeast
The northeast is well connected with Ryanair at Venice. Treviso is centrally located for the northeast. Ryanair keeps it running year-round, no tampering with this flight please.
The centre
In 2005 Parma had a weekly Malta (combined with Lampedusa) service with Club Air, using Avroliners. Club Air also ran a weekly flight from Verona. The carrier has now (again, already once in 2006) ceased operations. In the end they had one ex-Azzurra RJ85 and one ex-Air Malta, ex-Azzurra, RJ70. The carrier had actually leased the three ex-Azzurra RJ85s until the 2006 collapse. With Parma located not that far from Bologna and Pisa, a Parma service is unlikely.
Napoli is no easy market: high unemployment rate (20 per cent), consequent general weakness of the consumer market, a certain well-known organisation having the place firmly in its hands, not having a beneficial economic and social climate, and not being a tourist destination these days. This summer Air Malta managed to run twice weekly non-stop, adding one flight as a combi with Rome. Add Alitalia once weekly.
While in 2006 Air Malta had already tried Napoli as an extension to the Palermo run, and before that there were services from Italian firms, one might evaluate making the Bologna run in winter, or at least during the shoulder months, with a stop in Napoli either way. The Napoli-Bologna vv. sector could be marketed through Air One, hence improving the Bologna load (year-round, twice weekly, maybe weak occasionally) while keeping Napoli open for a longer time. It might help bring the Bologna run to thrice weekly in summer. Two counter-arguments are that the stopover in Napoli could negatively affect the competitiveness for Malta-Bologna over the non-stop Ryanair Pisa run, and the stopover is not for free (airport costs, more crew time, fuel, cycle-related maintenance). Napoli should have a higher incoming potential for Malta than Reggio di Calabria.
Ryanair’s subsidized Pisa flight weakened the Meridiana Bologna flight due to catchment/destination area overlaps (Florence). Meridiana gave up, Air Malta took over, so one should note that here Ryanair was there before Air Malta. With the year-round Ryanair Venice run one has a good service for the northeast while Bari is a genuine addition for the southeast. So for Italy one has a quite balanced map between Air Malta and Ryanair, none hurting the other, except in the Florence catchment/destination area.
Rome
Network carrier Alitalia has a long-time tradition on the Malta route and offers quite affordable priced connections. With the Berlusconi government there might now be a chance for the survival of the troubled flag-carrier, although monitoring of financial route performance should now become more important. At the same time, Rome is crucial for Air Malta, which has been flying very frequently with up to three flight pairs daily this summer. No gambling with this route please.
Heel and tip
For ‘the boot’ of Italy, the operations of Air Malta aim at Reggio di Calabria. Adding Bari with Ryanair is a genuine addition, as this so far had only been linked by quite occasional Air Malta charters.
Sicily – Comiso
While Catania is more than sufficiently linked, and for Palermo Air Malta now has excellent timing encouraging weekend trips, the still to open Comiso airport has recently been brought into discussion. Catania airport is only a 90 kms-drive away from Comiso.
Currently, Virtu Ferries run Valletta-Pozallo in only 90 minutes. Pozallo is only 30 kms by fast road from Ragusa, from where it is some 15-20 kms to Comiso airport.
Some argue that with a Gozo-Comiso link one could save on the 30 kms (of which five are by ferry) to Malta International Airport, by having a small plane starting from Gozo and people changing to an eventual Ryanair flight in Sicily rather than in Malta with its wide range of low-fare flights (Air Malta, Ryanair and various others).
In the Gozo airstrip discussion (TMIS, 20 July available on TMIS online), ample examples from across the whole EU as regards fares for accordingly sized aircraft were provided. Basically, all examples, except one for a 19-seater, the Let 410, have fares comparable to Helisureste’s, so far for saving money, even over a domestic trip made by an eventual more or less competitive Let 410/420 (the 420 is identical but with engines optimized for hot weather operations on shorter runways) air shuttle. For Air Malta flights one could have a check-through, particularly if the Let, or maybe Skytruck, would run as a franchise with special offers for Air Malta customers, while for a low-cost-carrier one has lengthy DIY transits, whether in Malta or Sicily. Still, a domestic flight would compete with the improved surface connection (Gozo Channel Line plus airport coach) costing only e20 from MIA to Gozo return, with roughly the same unit cost for a chauffeur driven car (not white taxi!) or minivan. Notwithstanding, it remains remarkable that a 1000m racecourse was deemed an absolute socio-economic necessity for Gozo, while the discussion over a 500-700m grass or gravel airstrip, sufficient for a Gozo-MIA shuttle has been going on since the late 1960s.
If one had a Gozo airstrip with an (Let) operator providing fares comparable to those of Virtu Ferries for Malta, one might look at not Comiso but Catania (more population) for a point-to-point connection. A big catamaran on a point-to-point service is a too big a commercial risk, while a stopover here would mean quite a time loss. But at for the same price, a seasonal 19-seater run might be filled here if aimed at the core catchment area.
Regarding a Comiso service from mainland Malta with a smaller plane, the wide choice of low-fare Air Malta, Ryanair etc. flights means that the potential of seekers of DIY transit, for which one would have to add a few hours between scheduled time of arrival and departure, can be eliminated. One would have to rely on point-to-point volume.
An air bridge?
Just theoretically, what about an ‘air bridge’ with Ryanair or Air Malta to/from Comiso? With all the lengthy procedure before flight, total travel time from Malta to Ragusa could be quite shorter by catamaran than by big plane, with the ferry also carrying vehicles. With two flight pairs per day for day returns, Air Malta would have to try and fill up 282 seats, Ryanair even 379 (A319/B737-800), each way. The distance compares to Glasgow/Prestwick-Belfast, for which Ryanair states a flying time of 45 minutes, operating only once daily. For point-to-point traffic one would compete directly with Virtu, which take 90 minutes for the trip, so on the whole possibly faster due to avoiding lengthy pre-flight issues.
Certainly, the private ferry service is not for free, adult normal return cost e120 including fuel surcharge. But a German tour operator offers returns including an all-day sightseeing tour and transfers in Malta for e99, standard, and Maltese tour operators roughly compare.
Virtu invested in a new vessel seating 600 passengers plus vehicles. On some days they run twice, thus offering 1200 seats each way. Can hundreds of airplane seats seriously be thrown in too? Also ships burn fuel. Taking away a good share of the passenger revenue could mean that revenue would have to be generated elsewhere – like higher fares for those with no choice, for example those who use a van to buy ware for their small shops in Malta. With limited potential Virtu cannot operate as many hours per day as operators on Euro trunk routes (utilization), and winter is a tough time. The ferry service is essential.
For incoming traffic to Malta, Comiso/Ragusa area and neighbouring places are much less densely populated than Malta or Catania and Palermo. Comiso airport is intended to make it even more convenient for tourists to visit the beautiful countryside, towns and villages of the area. Malta sees very frequent low-fare flights from Catania and a seasonal weekend trip flight pair from Palermo too, Palermo costs only from e130 return all inclusive. Inter-regional mass tourism depends on organised tours. Carriers should provide contingents to tour operators, definitely the case with Virtu, possibly with a Let operator (Air Malta franchise?), but not with Ryanair. Would a Ryanair or Air Malta (mainline) flight really be more practical for very spontaneous trips, if requiring full DIY organization and possibly high fares if booking last minute due to both following the low-cost-style fare model, while a ferry package can be bought from any travel agency, whether from abroad or spontaneously along the road in Valletta, Sliema or with everything ready organised?
While a Ryanair ‘air bridge’ might eventually work for them if they would only fly, say, once on Friday evening and again once on Sunday evening if the fare is right, the Catania link should generally not be endangered by massive parallel flights, while the ferry link is essential for many small Maltese businesses and motorists. If Ryanair wants to operate nothing will stop it, but one should not subsidize this: Catania airport is a mere 90-kms drive from Comiso, plus the ferry, and Air Malta’s similar Palermo product might be damaged as regards the Maltese source market.
Provided a mix of tour operator and direct sales seats in source markets, Air Malta might combine Malta and Ragusa, with a routing Malta-place X-Ragusa-Malta (eventual crew change, standard ground time, Ragusa to X load remaining onboard) –X – Malta. It however does not mean one has to run daily, and applies only to source airports that can on one day profitably support 240 seats for Malta and 80 for Ragusa (1.5 and 0.5 Airbus A320s respectively).
19-seater runs
With the Let 410 19-seat aircraft there are practical examples in the EU running on comparably long sectors. The Manx 2 Blackpool-Isle of Man return (110 kms per sector, equal to Gozo-Comiso), costs between e62 (tourist fare, less busy hours) and e280 (fully flexible), so average fares roughly compare to Virtu’s standard fares.
Bulgarian Heli Air (former Gozo MAC helicopter contractor) runs an L410 to/from Elba for the Elbafly brand. Elba-Pisa (100 kms) and Elba-Florence (140 kms) both cost e129 return standard.
In the French Caribbean, Take Air, with aircraft on French register and French staff, operates new Let 410s to small neighbouring island States. Fort de France to Dominica (90 kms) starts from e75 return, St Lucia (90 kms) from e65, while the run to Guadeloupe (190 km) costs from e145 return. These “from” fares are however not special offers but readily available on any date, also at short notice.
In Estonia, Avies runs between Tallin and Kärdla on Hiiumaa island charging 530 krones (e39) for the 120-km sector return, though quite an exception.
So at least with this Czech aircraft, available new or as nearly new second-hand, one might compete with the ferry standard fare, but hardly with a tour-operator package. Still, for Gozo it would mean not having to add the trip from/to Valletta with according time involved, though the main Gozo loads should be a MIA shuttle, so it would be more an additional job.
For Malta-Comiso, a 19-seater might have fares a bit higher than theoretically a big jet. But one also has to see the way lower marketing risk, while on such short sectors jets are slower than smaller turboprop planes due to more elaborate approach flight patterns, taxi-time, (de-) boarding time and so on.. And a 19-seater might be more viable for a daily or higher frequency than a 190-seater, where it is impossible. Competition from the speedy catamaran link with competitive fares (provided through tour operators) remains a fact, and if for just the main weekend times one would have Ryanair flying it would mean taking away the business on the two most lucrative days for the Let/Skytruck operation that might really need it. But the 19-seater could alternatively run during the week from Malta and for the weekend link Gozo-Catania, while with Fridays and Sundays more busy days at MIA one would anyway maybe be more on the domestic shuttle.
As regards floatplanes, brought in every now and again to link Sicily and Gozo, AirSeaLines, subsidiary of Canadian Harbour Air (partners in Harbour Air Malta), operate 19-seat amphibian Twin Otters from Corfu to neighbouring islands and Brindisi. Corfu-Cephalonia, 150 kms, costs e175 return. The Brindisi run, (distance equal to Malta-Catania), costs e230.
Actually, according to Viking, the Canadian firm that restarted production of the Twin Otter after 20 years being out of production, an unnamed customer from Malta holds a commitment for the modernized version, not stating whether float or normal landing gear. The type, its capabilities and fare performance of current older examples were discussed in said article. But one could speculate that it is not a customer for commercial services from or within Malta but one operating energy industry support flights in the Sahara, a market where cost is not as problematic as in tourism.
For a land-based Twin Otter operation, Skybus operate from Land’s End to the Scilly Islands with a highly frequent link charging e160-180 for the 50 kms return flight. Clearly the Let 410 is way more competitive. Still, Land’s End has proved that their 790m grass runway is sufficient for 70 years of commercial services.
The Let, the cost-wise only more or less acceptable option, can also operate out of grass runways which minimize development cost and reduce environmental impact (re-conversion into agricultural land possible in case of commercial failure), though gravel or tarmac (e.g. partly built on the footprint of an existing road, reducing use of new land) is always welcome. The Skytruck, requiring less runway infrastructure (environmental impact) than even the Twin Otter while having highest safety reserves might be an alternative, though the Let has best costs, to which it all boils down to in the end.
So, with a 19-seater eventual flights could mean Malta-Comiso, with struggle against the catamaran, and Gozo-Catania. A Palermo run with a smaller plane would not be competitive, see performance of the 2005 Malta-Trapani route operated in 2005 by European 2000 with a 19-seat Fairchild Metroliner from MIA – proving that one will not save time and money with a DIY transit in Sicily over flying non-stop to/from Malta, the best connected airport in the European central Mediterranean.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
fonte: http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=73915
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]by Matthias A. Merzhäuser[/FONT]
Due to high fuel costs, airlines serving Malta have been rationalizing their route network on longer routes. With the shift towards low-cost-carrier style, the “under two flight hour rule” will become more necessary to follow. Malta’s only major EU source market really meeting this is Italy. Air Malta operates all Italy flights as code-shares with Air One, the number two Italian carrier, so it has a strong Italian marketing/distribution channel partner. Below, potential moves regarding mainland Italy will be sketched, followed by a discussion of potential opportunities of the new Sicilian airport of Comiso for Malta and Gozo flights.
Milan area
As Alitalia now concentrates on Rome as its hub, it has stopped the daily Milan-Malpensa run. Air Malta stepped in, as well as Italian low-cost carrier Volareweb. Alitalia had operated a daily flight; Volareweb does three a week. Alitalia had carried quite some transit volume and a good share of the volume representing the four other flights has been shifted primarily via Munich, which explains a good share of the growth there. Today Milan is basically a point-to-point route for the whole north and northwest, covering also, for example,. Torino sufficiently well.
Taking a swift look at the Alps, Malpensa also serves as a gateway to Malta for both the Swiss Ticino and the Wallis (via Simplon railway tunnel plus year-round-open pass road). For the Wallis it means better fares than flying from Geneva and, from many places, it is the same distance or even shorter (like for example Brig). The seasonal Geneva route is often routed via Catania. At first glance Air Malta is aggressively or what buzzword making use of EU membership. But apparently the load for Malta is insufficient, so Sicily traffic is taken along too. As discussed in The Malta Independent on Sunday of 13 January, one might consider Easyjet turning the service into year-round, with two or three weekly flights depending on the season, and Air Malta continuing with a summer serial charter. Back to Italy.
While Easyjet, now with a massive presence in Malpensa, operates the ex-GB Airways Manchester and London runs apparently without subsidy, this does not mean that they do so otherwise. Ryanair is a long-time operator in Milan-Bergamo. But for Milan there is no justification for creating an unlevel playing field against Air Malta. Encouraging Volareweb instead of Ryanair or Easyjet was thus correct: one has diversified the range of operators in the foreign low-cost carrier field to lessen dependency, one has a carrier from catchment area, and one acknowledges the reality of the seasonal character, thus not putting the year-round carrier under undue pressure during the lean season. Unlike others, Italian low-cost carriers are not asking all the time for, well, “embraces”.
If Volareweb does not return, an option could be shifting to low-cost airline Myair (My Way Airlines, trading as Myair), main base Milan-Bergamo and a Bombardier CRJ900 operator. With 90 seats, this very fuel-efficient jet has half the capacity of the Volareweb Airbus A320. One could even fly thrice weekly with CRJ900 in winter, and, in summer either thrice weekly with an A320 (also in Myair fleet) like Volareweb did this year, or even daily with a CRJ900.
Myair might be less complicated to arrange than Ryanair, which demands fat subsidies and requires massive State involvement. The Italian carrier would be less threatening to Air Malta in Malpensa due to a more balanced capacity and level playing field. Additionally it has a very interesting Italian network, see www.myair.com, so they could fill the void if others were to pull out elsewhere. Myair has 15 ultra-fuel-efficient 100-seat CRJ1000s (stretch of the already fuel-efficient CRJ900) on order. With low unit cost and smaller capacity aircraft Myair can offer higher frequency and/or is more flexible to keep routes open/develop new routes at low fares due to half the marketing risk of competitors using double as big planes, while with their A320 they can (seasonally) upgrade.
The northeast
The northeast is well connected with Ryanair at Venice. Treviso is centrally located for the northeast. Ryanair keeps it running year-round, no tampering with this flight please.
The centre
In 2005 Parma had a weekly Malta (combined with Lampedusa) service with Club Air, using Avroliners. Club Air also ran a weekly flight from Verona. The carrier has now (again, already once in 2006) ceased operations. In the end they had one ex-Azzurra RJ85 and one ex-Air Malta, ex-Azzurra, RJ70. The carrier had actually leased the three ex-Azzurra RJ85s until the 2006 collapse. With Parma located not that far from Bologna and Pisa, a Parma service is unlikely.
Napoli is no easy market: high unemployment rate (20 per cent), consequent general weakness of the consumer market, a certain well-known organisation having the place firmly in its hands, not having a beneficial economic and social climate, and not being a tourist destination these days. This summer Air Malta managed to run twice weekly non-stop, adding one flight as a combi with Rome. Add Alitalia once weekly.
While in 2006 Air Malta had already tried Napoli as an extension to the Palermo run, and before that there were services from Italian firms, one might evaluate making the Bologna run in winter, or at least during the shoulder months, with a stop in Napoli either way. The Napoli-Bologna vv. sector could be marketed through Air One, hence improving the Bologna load (year-round, twice weekly, maybe weak occasionally) while keeping Napoli open for a longer time. It might help bring the Bologna run to thrice weekly in summer. Two counter-arguments are that the stopover in Napoli could negatively affect the competitiveness for Malta-Bologna over the non-stop Ryanair Pisa run, and the stopover is not for free (airport costs, more crew time, fuel, cycle-related maintenance). Napoli should have a higher incoming potential for Malta than Reggio di Calabria.
Ryanair’s subsidized Pisa flight weakened the Meridiana Bologna flight due to catchment/destination area overlaps (Florence). Meridiana gave up, Air Malta took over, so one should note that here Ryanair was there before Air Malta. With the year-round Ryanair Venice run one has a good service for the northeast while Bari is a genuine addition for the southeast. So for Italy one has a quite balanced map between Air Malta and Ryanair, none hurting the other, except in the Florence catchment/destination area.
Rome
Network carrier Alitalia has a long-time tradition on the Malta route and offers quite affordable priced connections. With the Berlusconi government there might now be a chance for the survival of the troubled flag-carrier, although monitoring of financial route performance should now become more important. At the same time, Rome is crucial for Air Malta, which has been flying very frequently with up to three flight pairs daily this summer. No gambling with this route please.
Heel and tip
For ‘the boot’ of Italy, the operations of Air Malta aim at Reggio di Calabria. Adding Bari with Ryanair is a genuine addition, as this so far had only been linked by quite occasional Air Malta charters.
Sicily – Comiso
While Catania is more than sufficiently linked, and for Palermo Air Malta now has excellent timing encouraging weekend trips, the still to open Comiso airport has recently been brought into discussion. Catania airport is only a 90 kms-drive away from Comiso.
Currently, Virtu Ferries run Valletta-Pozallo in only 90 minutes. Pozallo is only 30 kms by fast road from Ragusa, from where it is some 15-20 kms to Comiso airport.
Some argue that with a Gozo-Comiso link one could save on the 30 kms (of which five are by ferry) to Malta International Airport, by having a small plane starting from Gozo and people changing to an eventual Ryanair flight in Sicily rather than in Malta with its wide range of low-fare flights (Air Malta, Ryanair and various others).
In the Gozo airstrip discussion (TMIS, 20 July available on TMIS online), ample examples from across the whole EU as regards fares for accordingly sized aircraft were provided. Basically, all examples, except one for a 19-seater, the Let 410, have fares comparable to Helisureste’s, so far for saving money, even over a domestic trip made by an eventual more or less competitive Let 410/420 (the 420 is identical but with engines optimized for hot weather operations on shorter runways) air shuttle. For Air Malta flights one could have a check-through, particularly if the Let, or maybe Skytruck, would run as a franchise with special offers for Air Malta customers, while for a low-cost-carrier one has lengthy DIY transits, whether in Malta or Sicily. Still, a domestic flight would compete with the improved surface connection (Gozo Channel Line plus airport coach) costing only e20 from MIA to Gozo return, with roughly the same unit cost for a chauffeur driven car (not white taxi!) or minivan. Notwithstanding, it remains remarkable that a 1000m racecourse was deemed an absolute socio-economic necessity for Gozo, while the discussion over a 500-700m grass or gravel airstrip, sufficient for a Gozo-MIA shuttle has been going on since the late 1960s.
If one had a Gozo airstrip with an (Let) operator providing fares comparable to those of Virtu Ferries for Malta, one might look at not Comiso but Catania (more population) for a point-to-point connection. A big catamaran on a point-to-point service is a too big a commercial risk, while a stopover here would mean quite a time loss. But at for the same price, a seasonal 19-seater run might be filled here if aimed at the core catchment area.
Regarding a Comiso service from mainland Malta with a smaller plane, the wide choice of low-fare Air Malta, Ryanair etc. flights means that the potential of seekers of DIY transit, for which one would have to add a few hours between scheduled time of arrival and departure, can be eliminated. One would have to rely on point-to-point volume.
An air bridge?
Just theoretically, what about an ‘air bridge’ with Ryanair or Air Malta to/from Comiso? With all the lengthy procedure before flight, total travel time from Malta to Ragusa could be quite shorter by catamaran than by big plane, with the ferry also carrying vehicles. With two flight pairs per day for day returns, Air Malta would have to try and fill up 282 seats, Ryanair even 379 (A319/B737-800), each way. The distance compares to Glasgow/Prestwick-Belfast, for which Ryanair states a flying time of 45 minutes, operating only once daily. For point-to-point traffic one would compete directly with Virtu, which take 90 minutes for the trip, so on the whole possibly faster due to avoiding lengthy pre-flight issues.
Certainly, the private ferry service is not for free, adult normal return cost e120 including fuel surcharge. But a German tour operator offers returns including an all-day sightseeing tour and transfers in Malta for e99, standard, and Maltese tour operators roughly compare.
Virtu invested in a new vessel seating 600 passengers plus vehicles. On some days they run twice, thus offering 1200 seats each way. Can hundreds of airplane seats seriously be thrown in too? Also ships burn fuel. Taking away a good share of the passenger revenue could mean that revenue would have to be generated elsewhere – like higher fares for those with no choice, for example those who use a van to buy ware for their small shops in Malta. With limited potential Virtu cannot operate as many hours per day as operators on Euro trunk routes (utilization), and winter is a tough time. The ferry service is essential.
For incoming traffic to Malta, Comiso/Ragusa area and neighbouring places are much less densely populated than Malta or Catania and Palermo. Comiso airport is intended to make it even more convenient for tourists to visit the beautiful countryside, towns and villages of the area. Malta sees very frequent low-fare flights from Catania and a seasonal weekend trip flight pair from Palermo too, Palermo costs only from e130 return all inclusive. Inter-regional mass tourism depends on organised tours. Carriers should provide contingents to tour operators, definitely the case with Virtu, possibly with a Let operator (Air Malta franchise?), but not with Ryanair. Would a Ryanair or Air Malta (mainline) flight really be more practical for very spontaneous trips, if requiring full DIY organization and possibly high fares if booking last minute due to both following the low-cost-style fare model, while a ferry package can be bought from any travel agency, whether from abroad or spontaneously along the road in Valletta, Sliema or with everything ready organised?
While a Ryanair ‘air bridge’ might eventually work for them if they would only fly, say, once on Friday evening and again once on Sunday evening if the fare is right, the Catania link should generally not be endangered by massive parallel flights, while the ferry link is essential for many small Maltese businesses and motorists. If Ryanair wants to operate nothing will stop it, but one should not subsidize this: Catania airport is a mere 90-kms drive from Comiso, plus the ferry, and Air Malta’s similar Palermo product might be damaged as regards the Maltese source market.
Provided a mix of tour operator and direct sales seats in source markets, Air Malta might combine Malta and Ragusa, with a routing Malta-place X-Ragusa-Malta (eventual crew change, standard ground time, Ragusa to X load remaining onboard) –X – Malta. It however does not mean one has to run daily, and applies only to source airports that can on one day profitably support 240 seats for Malta and 80 for Ragusa (1.5 and 0.5 Airbus A320s respectively).
19-seater runs
With the Let 410 19-seat aircraft there are practical examples in the EU running on comparably long sectors. The Manx 2 Blackpool-Isle of Man return (110 kms per sector, equal to Gozo-Comiso), costs between e62 (tourist fare, less busy hours) and e280 (fully flexible), so average fares roughly compare to Virtu’s standard fares.
Bulgarian Heli Air (former Gozo MAC helicopter contractor) runs an L410 to/from Elba for the Elbafly brand. Elba-Pisa (100 kms) and Elba-Florence (140 kms) both cost e129 return standard.
In the French Caribbean, Take Air, with aircraft on French register and French staff, operates new Let 410s to small neighbouring island States. Fort de France to Dominica (90 kms) starts from e75 return, St Lucia (90 kms) from e65, while the run to Guadeloupe (190 km) costs from e145 return. These “from” fares are however not special offers but readily available on any date, also at short notice.
In Estonia, Avies runs between Tallin and Kärdla on Hiiumaa island charging 530 krones (e39) for the 120-km sector return, though quite an exception.
So at least with this Czech aircraft, available new or as nearly new second-hand, one might compete with the ferry standard fare, but hardly with a tour-operator package. Still, for Gozo it would mean not having to add the trip from/to Valletta with according time involved, though the main Gozo loads should be a MIA shuttle, so it would be more an additional job.
For Malta-Comiso, a 19-seater might have fares a bit higher than theoretically a big jet. But one also has to see the way lower marketing risk, while on such short sectors jets are slower than smaller turboprop planes due to more elaborate approach flight patterns, taxi-time, (de-) boarding time and so on.. And a 19-seater might be more viable for a daily or higher frequency than a 190-seater, where it is impossible. Competition from the speedy catamaran link with competitive fares (provided through tour operators) remains a fact, and if for just the main weekend times one would have Ryanair flying it would mean taking away the business on the two most lucrative days for the Let/Skytruck operation that might really need it. But the 19-seater could alternatively run during the week from Malta and for the weekend link Gozo-Catania, while with Fridays and Sundays more busy days at MIA one would anyway maybe be more on the domestic shuttle.
As regards floatplanes, brought in every now and again to link Sicily and Gozo, AirSeaLines, subsidiary of Canadian Harbour Air (partners in Harbour Air Malta), operate 19-seat amphibian Twin Otters from Corfu to neighbouring islands and Brindisi. Corfu-Cephalonia, 150 kms, costs e175 return. The Brindisi run, (distance equal to Malta-Catania), costs e230.
Actually, according to Viking, the Canadian firm that restarted production of the Twin Otter after 20 years being out of production, an unnamed customer from Malta holds a commitment for the modernized version, not stating whether float or normal landing gear. The type, its capabilities and fare performance of current older examples were discussed in said article. But one could speculate that it is not a customer for commercial services from or within Malta but one operating energy industry support flights in the Sahara, a market where cost is not as problematic as in tourism.
For a land-based Twin Otter operation, Skybus operate from Land’s End to the Scilly Islands with a highly frequent link charging e160-180 for the 50 kms return flight. Clearly the Let 410 is way more competitive. Still, Land’s End has proved that their 790m grass runway is sufficient for 70 years of commercial services.
The Let, the cost-wise only more or less acceptable option, can also operate out of grass runways which minimize development cost and reduce environmental impact (re-conversion into agricultural land possible in case of commercial failure), though gravel or tarmac (e.g. partly built on the footprint of an existing road, reducing use of new land) is always welcome. The Skytruck, requiring less runway infrastructure (environmental impact) than even the Twin Otter while having highest safety reserves might be an alternative, though the Let has best costs, to which it all boils down to in the end.
So, with a 19-seater eventual flights could mean Malta-Comiso, with struggle against the catamaran, and Gozo-Catania. A Palermo run with a smaller plane would not be competitive, see performance of the 2005 Malta-Trapani route operated in 2005 by European 2000 with a 19-seat Fairchild Metroliner from MIA – proving that one will not save time and money with a DIY transit in Sicily over flying non-stop to/from Malta, the best connected airport in the European central Mediterranean.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
fonte: http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=73915
