Business leaders told Air Malta will not become a feeder airline

Air Malta will not become a feeder airline, Tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis told business leaders Monday. Zammit Lewis "categorically denied" reports that negotiations between the govt and Alitalia, which is keen to buy a 49% stake in Air Malta, involved turning the carrier into a feeder airline. The minister said that it was an "absolute priority" throughout negotiations that any eventual solution safeguarded Air Malta, the local tourism sector and the airline's tourism-focused routes. Zammit Lewis had already said Air Malta would "never be a feeder airline" last May. This latest denial comes after sources said a business plan drawn up by Alitalia envisioned an Air Malta vastly expanding its route network to the African continent, to the detriment of European routes. <br/>