The national airline, Maldivian, has announced its preparations to launch narrow-body flights to two destinations in China next January. Maldivian stated that it is working to increase its international routes. All international flights by the national airline had completely ceased with the global COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, in efforts to resume flights and expand to long-haul destinations, a wide-body aircraft was brought to the Maldives. Through this aircraft, flights to three Chinese destinations have already commenced. Island Aviation, which operates the national airline, is also currently working to acquire an additional aircraft.
Providing details on Maldivian’s efforts to expand its international routes, Ibrahim Iyas, Managing Director of Island Aviation, stated during PSM News’ ‘Hafuthaa 104’ program that work is underway to launch narrow-body flights to China, in addition to the wide-body flights. He noted that Maldivian had previously operated narrow-body flights to Chinese cities. “For example, Xi’an city in China, which was previously suspended; we operate that with narrow-body aircraft, making a stop in Bangkok, Thailand. Now, seasonally, starting from this coming January, our seasonal flights will commence. These are our narrow-body flights to Xi’an and Shenzhen in China. These flights will also expand significantly in the future,” said Iyas, Managing Director of IAS.
While Maldivian is working to further expand its flights to China, Island Aviation has noted the significant success of its wide-body flights to China. They stated that so far, over 20,000 people have been transported from China alone on wide-body flights. Furthermore, Maldivian also revealed that 1100 tons of cargo have been transported on these flights. Iyas highlighted that in addition to China, Maldivian currently operates four narrow-body flights per week to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram in India. Iyas added that these flights would be increased to five per week next month. He also mentioned that although flights to Dhaka, Bangladesh, are currently suspended, efforts are underway to resume those flights next year.
As part of Maldivian’s efforts to expand its international routes, the company is working to expand wide-body flights to additional destinations.
