“While I will keep on seeking expert advice, the government will continue down the road of removing all restrictions. We must reach a stage where, as much as possible, we can adopt the style of people choosing how to best take care of themselves,” the Prime Minister said.

“The pandemic took too much away from us. Children and youths lost more than 24 months of the best time of their lives and we must now look ahead to continue regaining our freedoms.”

Although he didn’t provide a specific timeline, he said Malta must’ve towards this direction during springtime.

The MIA has long been calling for Malta to remove all COVID-19 related travel rules as other European countries have done and recently warned that the country’s current travel requirements and checks are among the most “inconvenient and unfriendly” in the EU.

It welcomed Abela’s comment in a statement unveiling its flight schedule for the summer season, which features 99 routes in 34 countries, around 80% of the connections Malta had enjoyed in summer 2019, before the pandemic hit.

New routes include Ryanair flights to Shannon and Bordeaux, an Air Malta flight to Riga and a triweekly service to Madrid, a Vueling flight to Bilbao, and the comeback of Transavia France’s Malta-Paris Orly link, which was cancelled after the pandemic. 

“Our Traffic Development team and the Malta Tourism Authority have worked tirelessly to restore as much as possible of the airport’s pre-pandemic connectivity, and our flight schedule for summer is testament to the success of these efforts,” Borg said. 

Should Malta remove its COVID-19 travel restrictions?