The Maltese government has sold its golden share in Malta Air to Gulliver Holding Limited, now making Ryanair the sole owner of the carrier
This transaction involved the transfer of a single ordinary B share with a nominal value of €1, executed on June 12, 2024, but disclosed in January 2025. The golden share allowed the government to veto the sale of the airline to other companies.
Gulliver Holding Limited exercised its call option from a shareholders’ agreement dated June 11, 2019, allowing the purchase of the government stake
The government’s golden share, which provided veto rights over airline sales and operations relocation, was sold for €25,000 under a fixed-price buyout agreement
Malta Air, founded in 2019 as a joint venture between Ryanair Holdings and the government of Malta, operates as a Ryanair subsidiary with a fleet of 179 commercial passenger aircraft across multiple bases in Europe, 136 B737-800s and forty-three B737-8-200s.
