Air Malta to be dissolved through tentative government plan

Aug 11 2022

The Shift News have reported that the government established advanced plans to dissolve Air Malta later this year.

The plans are to transfer its few remaining profitable assets to a new airline, in a move similar to what occurred with Alitalia in Italy.

All of Air Malta’s workforce will be rendered redundant, with the drawing up of new contracts based on current market conditions also in talks as the new government-owner airline will be established.

A Plan B has been secretly drawn up to be implemented as all indications from Brussels point to a failure in ongoing state aid negotiations by the government to approve a new €290 million ‘rescue package’ for the airline.

Prime Minister Robert Abela and Finance Minister Clyde Caruana have already approved a plan which was set to be implemented once negotiations on state aid fail. This aims to set up a new national airline at the end of October and, simultaneously, declare Air Malta’s dissolution.

All Air Malta staff still on the register will be given redundancy notices, with some of them given the opportunity to apply for a new job with the new airline. The contacts to be offered will be completely redrawn, with many of the benefits currently enjoyed by staff no longer remaining applicable.

Customers who made bookings beyond the day of dissolution will either have refunds sent or will be offered the chance to travel with the new airline. Not all routes served by Air Malta will be continuing as the new airline will have to show that it is a completely separate economic operator and not a successor to get an EU approval.

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Barcode hears pleas and offers refunds for unredeemed digital tokens

Aug 11 2022

Barcode have just released a new statement addressing customer pleas and revealing that they will be refunding the unredeemed digital tokens of over €1.

Out of goodwill and with the blessing of the organisers involved, Barcode will be refunding the unredeemed tokens from:

Food Festival Gozo (Pjazza, Xewkija): 9th – 10th August 2022
Farsons Beer Festival (Ta Qali, National Park): 28th July – 6th August 2022
Isle of MTV (Fossos, Floriana): 19th July 2022
Food Festival (Pjazza Tritoni, Valletta): 13th – 17th July 2022
Malta International Wine Festival (Argotti Gardens, Floriana): 23rd – 26th June 2022.

The company highlighted that they still operated within full remits of the law as they installed clear signage of terms of service as well as uploading instruction videos to our website for maximum consumer clarity.

‘However, we hear all those who might be in some way dissatisfied with how events turned out and we consider this a learning curve for us too.’ The goal of Barcode is to go cashless as soon as possible whilst keeping festival-goers satisfied until the desired goals are reached. A reputable logistics company operating in major festivals locally for the past 18 years, Barcode is actually not the software/RFID company.

The platform used is Tixify, which is in use in multiple festivals abroad. Whereas a good percentage of customers wiped out their digital tokens completely, many others may not have redeemed them for various reasons.

Here you can find the link to access the refund portal. This method is the only means to receive a refund for unused bargains, and the funds portal will be open for 1 week starting from Saturday the 13th August at 00:00hrs until Friday the 19th of August 23:00hrs.

Refunds will be sent via bank transfer by Thursday 1st September 2022. An EU bank account with a valid IBAN is necessary. For further information, you can access [email protected]. Barcode thanks all customers for their cooperation and for allowing them to bill towards their goal alongside them.

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Road to Safer Streets: Bolt test tandem riding feature in Malta

Aug 11 2022

Bolt, the largest scooter provider in Europe is currently testing its tandem riding feature in Malta.

Tandem riding is the activity in which a scooter is being ridden by more than one person. Riding a scooter designed for one rider with an additional person is a frequent cause of accidents. Many cities have regulations against it, and most scooter operators have rules and conditions prohibiting this unsafe behaviour.

However, Bolt is the first operator to actually design an in-app functionality aimed at detecting tandem riding and discouraging it. The tandem riding prevention system is a truly revolutionary development, as it tackles one of the most recurrent safety issues in the scooter industry. The system is based on the Bolt 4 scooter’s in-built accelerometer, which was initially designed to measure the scooter’s acceleration rate.

Bolt’s engineers are using the same hardware to detect sudden changes in mass, which is a clear sign that there are several people on one scooter. In this case, the user receives a push notification on his app. Bolt is being considered for a patent for this feature by the European Patent Office and if the patent is awarded it will be valid in 154 countries.

The tandem riding prevention system is part of a wider safety features package, which also includes a cognitive reaction test and a skid braking prevention system.Bolt is the first company in the world to introduce a tandem riding prevention system and is on its way to obtaining a patent for the feature from the European Patent Office after its submission was accepted.

“We are more than a micro-mobility provider. We want to be partners for cities and communities. This is why we have decided to take on the most pressing safety challenges in the scooter industry: tandem riding’ said Kristian Kobescak, Rentals Country Manager in Malta.

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Bullets and Bad Driving: Canada’s warning to tourists visiting Malta

Aug 11 2022

According to the Canadian Government’s travel tips for tourists visiting Malta, travellers should be wary of bad driving habits as well as stray bullets from hunters.

That’s right – Canadian tourists are informed to keep an eye out for several hazards when visiting the islands. Although deemed as relatively safe, the island does apparently have a knack for its drivers not respecting traffic laws as they ‘do not follow safe driving practices.’

The roads themselves were described as poorly maintained, congested, winding and narrow, thus posing hazards. But roads aren’t the only thing travellers need to be weary of.

‘Be vigilant if you visit a rural area during hunting season, as accidents involving stray bullets have occurred’ says the document in reference to the island’s hunting season.

This is made worse by the fact that hunting areas are ‘rarely marked’ and ‘often overlap with camping areas.’ Among other things, coastal waters and riptides were highlighted for swimmers visiting for the island’s beaches.

#MaltaDaily