Finance Minister Clyde Caruana told parliament last year that €60.8 million was spent on Air Malta’s early retirement and voluntary retirement schemes, benefiting 351 workers.
In response to a question from nationalist MP Ivan Castillo, the minister said the total expenditure was €60,836,332.44.
Last March, the minister told parliament that 204 of the workers were working in the administrative sector, 137 were ‘industrial’ workers and 10 were engineers.
Over the past few months, airlines have cut a record number of workers in a last-minute attempt to cut costs as the government asked the European Commission to approve state funding for airlines.
Workers who opted for early or voluntary retirement schemes were offered a sum of between €40,000 and €300,000.
Air Malta staff over the age of 50 are eligible for early retirement and receive two-thirds of their gross take-home pay, up to a maximum of €300,000, if they have served 20 years or more.
Earlier this week, The Times of Malta quoted Air Malta chairman David Kurumi as saying that Air Malta will be shut down by the end of the year and replaced by another airline in a “seamless” transition.
Caruana later said consultations with the European Commission were continuing and another meeting was scheduled in two weeks.
Opposition parties have accused the government of failing to save the airline, even though the EU approved a restructuring plan in 2012. Castillo has expressed concern about the remaining workers who may be laid off.
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