VistaJet has just announced an investment of an additional Euro 100 million into Malta’s aviation industry. This investment will bring the company’s total investment in Malta assets to Euro 2 billion.
The Company’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr van der Meer, praised the pro-business attitude of both current and previous administrations, which has allowed the company to achieve exponential growth.
The company which was originally headquartered in Switzerland and which has since moved to Malta obtained its Operating Licence and Air Operator Certificate from Transport Malta in May 2012. It currently has a workforce of 245 employees.
Mr van der Meer said that the company’s interest in Malta began with a meeting with the former Minister for Infrastructure, Communications and Transport Austin Gatt in 2011. He believes that the relationship between the company and the Government is mutually beneficial since it is able to provide a large amount of business to other sectors within the Maltese economy, specifically hotels by booking over 6,000 room nights per year for crew and staff training taking place in Malta.
When announcing the move of the company’s headquarters to Malta, the Minister for Tourism, Dr Edward Zammit Lewis, had said “Today’s announcement once again highlights the Government’s commitment to creating a business-friendly economy and to building a stable, open environment in which international companies like VistaJet can invest and grow with confidence”.
This statement is typical of a Government which tries to take credit for the solid economic foundations laid by PN Governments and the resultant benefits to the economy, foundations which were built with vision at a time when the world was facing its worst economic recession.
These foundations have filtered down to an increase in employment, an increase in revenue from income tax and social security contributions paid by the employees, company tax on profits, rental of property, more business for restaurants and other multiplier effects on the economy in general.
It is pertinent to highlight that The Aircraft Registration Malta Act, 2010 was an offspring of the PN Government and that since its enactment a total of 240 Aircraft have been registered.
It has also to be noted that the creation of the Aviation Industry had also given birth to Lufthansa Technik Malta, a company which provides its customers with line and base maintenance services for short-haul and long-haul aircraft in the Airbus A320 and A330/340 and Boeing 737 series.
The company has a workforce of around 600 employees and its hangar complex also incorporates an in-house Technical Training Centre for training aeronautical technicians and mechanics. This modern training facility is operated in collaboration with Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) and the relative course was also a foresight of the PN Government in creating for our youngsters a new career in a niche industry while giving MCAST an international educational standing.
The Aviation Industry is a living proof of a PN Government which had the vision of creating a business-friendly economy in which international companies could invest and grow with confidence.
The only merit that the Minister can attribute to his Government is that it continued oiling the rotating machine and did not put spokes in its wheels so that it will keep growing for our overall economic benefit.
