Travel Concepts Dublin

The pioneering airline that first brought the low cost airlines to Malta has done well enough to start new routes to the island.

Ryanair, the Irish-based airline low cost, were the first airline to win the right to fly to Malta from the island's main markets for tourism Ireland and the UK.

The first route launched has been running between London Luton Airport since November, while the Dublin route had its flight opening in March. Both routes have attracted good seat occupancy levels, with tourist numbers rising in Malta.

The new route will run between Bremen in Germany to Malta and will be a welcome addition to Malta's attempt to attract more German tourists to the island.

Operate three times a week, is expected the first flights will begin in September.

Before the new flights began last November, estimates suggest that the low cost airline which could add an extra 80,000 tourists to the island in 2007 but this figure has improved dramatically for the double.

Malta slow pace of life may have contributed to the late introduction of low cost flights compared to its competitors, or it could have been political and tourist authorities concerned in protecting the national airline of the island with the attitudes that the rest of Europe began to ignore in the 80s, but whatever the reason, now Malta has enabled low-cost airlines, they can not get enough of them.

The number of visitors to Malta is up nearly ten per percent this year, thanks mainly to additional newcomers delivered by low cost airlines. And more tourists could not have come at best time since the island has seen dwindling numbers of tourists in recent years – the last factor in the decision to allow flights in

With tourism numbers up, tourism chiefs have seen the magic bullet that has led to the statistics, and embraced the concept of low air fares around enthusiasm.

While Malta has previously received most of its visitors from the United Kingdom, the idea of diversification has been possible for companies low cost carriers operating from European countries and the island is already receiving flights from Germany and Spain.

The country has made known that will welcome applications for flights from Scandinavia and other parts of Europe.

The U-Turn is now complete, a retrospective office slow to respond tourism, one that sees a quick fix to the declining popularity of former Malta as a holiday destination.

Help the image of Malta in the UK, Germany and other countries, reports have been made in Malta in the top of tourist safety tables.

An American journalist last year placed small Mediterranean island of Malta as one of the five safest travel destinations in the world, and a new U.S. report this year confirms Malta as one of the Holiday safest places in the world.

This year's report carries more weight than the previous official by a travel writer, having been compiled by the U.S. State Department.

Referring to Malta, the report praises the island for the non-existence of organized crime, perhaps especially surprising given its proximity to mainland Italy – and more so to Sicily.

A surprise to many who have driven in Malta is that the report considers the island roads to be safe. But this is backed up by official EU figures showing Malta has the lowest road related fatalities of all EU states.