The government of Malta has sold its golden share in Malta Air (MW, Malta International) to Gulliver Holding Limited, a Ryanair Holdings company, making the group the sole owner of the low-cost carrier. According to a Malta Business Registry filing, the transfer of a single ordinary B share with a nominal value of EUR1 euro (USD1.14) was conducted on June 12, 2024, but only disclosed in January 2025.
Gulliver Holding Limited decided to exercise its call option from a shareholder's agreement dated June 11, 2019, which enabled it to buy the government's stake in the airline. The golden share allowed the government to veto the sale of the airline to other companies or the relocation of operations to other countries. It also granted the government ownership rights to the name Malta Air.
The government's golden share was sold for EUR25,000 (USD28,500) under an initial fixed-price buyout agreement, the Times of Malta reported. Ryanair and the government of Malta have not publicly announced the share transfer.
ch-aviation asked Ryanair and the Maltese government for comment but they were not immediately available.
The company was founded in 2019 as a joint venture between Ryanair Holdings and the government of Malta. It operates as a subsidiary of Ryanair, holds a Maltese AOC, and has multiple bases across Europe. According to ch-aviation Commercial Aviation Aircraft Data, Malta Air currently operates 179 commercial passenger aircraft: 136 B737-800s and forty-three B737-8-200s.
