Chamber of SMEs deputy president Philip Fenech welcomed the news of upcoming direct flights between Malta and New York, stating that it will help Malta attract more higher-spending tourists.

“Malta is increasing its tourism value chain,” Fenech told Lovin Malta. “We have the numbers but we now need to increase the value chain.”

Delta Air Lines will operate three weekly flights between JFK International Airport and the Malta International Airport between June and October 2026.

Fenech said that while Malta was already connected to the USA and Canada via airlines like Ireland’s Aer Lingus and Poland’s LOT Airlines, the fact that Delta will operate direct flights is crucial to attract higher-spending tourists.

“Americans come from bigger economic structures, so their purchasing power is higher than Europeans as a general rule,” he said.

“We should slowly start eliminating the lower end of tourism and keep moving up the ladder as we improve our product and manage our growth better.”

He added that this new flight could also benefit Malta in terms of business opportunities and he thanked Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg, the Malta Tourism Authority and all stakeholders involved in successfully securing this new route.