VALLETTA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Budget airline Ryanair has officially launched a new subsidiary airline called Malta Air, after concluding talks with the government of Malta.
Starting with six aircraft, the low-cost airline subsidiary have a head office and engineering department in Malta and will operate from the island, the government announced on Tuesday.
The airline plans to expand its fleet to 10 aircraft over the coming years.
Ryanair has been operating in Malta for 12 years.
The Malta-based subsidiary joins another two Ryanair subsidiary airlines, Buzz and Laudamotion. The Maltese government will hold a "golden share" in Malta Air designed to give it a veto over any future sale of the business.
Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi both stressed that the new company would not impact Malta's national airline Air Malta, saying the two airlines would offer "different but complimentary" services.
