Alfred Sant baffled by Gozo airstrip plans: 'It will inevitably fail'
Labour MEP and former Prime Minister Alfred Sant has criticised plans to develop an airfield in Gozo, saying the idea makes no commercial sense.
"In no way can I imagine that plane flights carrying passengers between Malta and Gozo can be commercially viable," Sant wrote on Facebook.
The proposal, he said, "is less believable than that other absurd idea, of the fast ferry."
A fast ferry between Malta and Gozo was opened up to multiple operators following repeated failures to successfully and correctly issue a tender for the service. Two companies began operating the service, only to say late last year that they would be dramatically cutting schedules as the route was not profitable.
The government has since stepped in to pay them millions in state subsidies.
Despite problems with making the fast ferry service viable, the government has pushed ahead with its plans to develop a 445-metre-long airstrip in Xewkija, capable of accommodating aircraft that carry up to 11 passengers.
It submitted an application to develop a 'rural airfield' with the Planning Authority last September.
The government said that it had received some 70 recommendations in favour of the airfield plans...