Simon, welcome to Malta and welcome to Universal Air, the newest airline company to set up operations here in Malta.
Why Malta, what made you decide that Malta was the place to set up operations.
Firstly, I think the geographical location is great for what we want to achieve. We knew very early on that we wanted to go down the route of shorter type operations and Malta is perfectly located for that. But also importantly, the support we get from Transport Malta and the government. Another important factor is the fact that if we need to speak to someone in Transport Malta, which is responsible for aviation, or any other government department, we can simply pick up a phone and speak directly to whoever we need to speak with. Totally different to the UK, where I have worked. There, it is a case of sending an e-mail and maybe, if you are lucky, you get a response in a couple of days. The process is really long. If I have a problem in Malta, I can speak to Transport Malta to get a resolution or ask a question. And that is really important so that we can maintain the very high safety standards that we have in aviation. You need access to the experts very quickly. That was one of my biggest draws. Also, the location of Malta, it is close by Africa and also to the rest of Europe. Malta is the home of aviation in the world and they really do support companies here and the companies appreciate that support.
Chairman Dr Andew Walker said that setting up Universal Air in Malta was your brainchild, that you were the driving force behind getting operations going here in Malta. How did that come about?
I had set up a number of business’s in the UK and across Europe and was here in Malta in the process of setting up Universal Air with a strategy set up and a team in place. Andrew was also here, he was in the process of buying a company and we were speaking over a coffee and decided it would be to our mutual benefit to join forces. And that is what we did. Instead of each of us having overheads and costs, by joining we reduced those costs. There were not a lot of board meetings, it just felt right the way we set it all up. Andrew is like one of the dragons from the television show, Dragons Den. He is so experienced, it is great to have him on board.
The help that he gave me, to develop what he described as almost a failing aviation company, into what we have now, was great to be a part of. Even though setting up an aviation company comes with sleepless nights, having the input from Andrew together with a team in place allowed us to grow quickly, better than we would have done individually.
I love working with Andrew, he is a great mentor and a great friend and I love bouncing ideas off him and he is very trustworthy.
You operate Dash-8 twin engined turbo-props. Why them and not jet powered aircraft?
We had already experience of operating Dash-8 aircraft, the smaller 100 series version, carrying medical supplies and cargo. We had looked at jet aircraft, the Airbus 320’s as operated by Air Malta and Ryanair and that is a difficult business to get into. We, Universal Air, are small and agile and we wanted to make sure that the aircraft we operate are small and agile. Part of our strategy was to utilize routes that are not used and airports with a really wide catchment area that allowed us to go in and set up these routes. Competition is great for the consumer but not great for business, so avoiding the Air Malta and Ryanair routes is very important for us. Getting a smaller aircraft allows us to use those smaller routes but from a business view, we only have to fill 55 or 60 seats to be profitable. And in turn we can pass those savings onto our clients.
I want to fly Universal Air: How do I book a flight?
We have several options; our website flyuniversalair.com, for online tickets. We also have an app which can be downloaded from Google store and we have a call-centre based here in Malta, which has real people at the end of the phone. We wanted to steer away from automated systems. Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for our clients to book with Universal Air. Some people are more comfortable going to a travel agent to book their flights and we have partnered with a really good travel company, FCM Travel.
Business people, students, for example, may want everything done quickly and on-line, so we try to give as many options as possible and that is our common aim.
What has the early response to booking been?
Pretty good, we already had two flights fully booked, bookings are looking good, the summer is really busy as well, flights to Corfu and Pecs are filling up very quickly. We have the Ibiza route as well which is the talk of the island and is also filling up quickly. We are also looking at new options, we launch Nice in the summer and we will be taking over the Palermo route from Air Malta. So things are looking good and we are still in the growth phase. We are able to make changes in response to feedback from our clients. It is important that we listen, “if you don’t like it go somewhere else” is not part of Universal Air. We listen, we are part of the Mediterranean and if someone tells us something is not working, then we can change it. We have a good flexible team, an amazing support network.
You are off to a good start, summer is looking good, bright future ahead.
It is, we have more aircraft coming in, we are looking a couple more for the summer as demand is growing quickly, so initial impressions are very good, we are definitely finding a niche in the market, which other airlines cannot do, for a variety of reasons. We want to continue to grow and hopefully this time next year we will have a very large fleet with many more destinations.
Simon Cook, thank you for talking to us.
