Business
Maldives seeks Emirates, SilkAir flight increase
Maldives has announced talks with Emirates and SilkAir to increase the number of flights to the Indian Ocean island destination.
The negotiations were announced in an interview with state run Public Service Media (PSM) by Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) Managing Director Adil Moosa. He, however, did not give additional details.
Dubai-based Emirates began its service to the Maldives in May 1987 using a single Boeing 727 aircraft. It now operates four times daily service to the Maldives from Dubai, with transit routes, including neighbouring Sri Lanka, and uses Boeing 777-300s for its Male operations.
Emirates has become a major airline operating to the Maldives and has been serving for years as a preferred airline of tourists visiting the island nation from far corners of the world, especially Europe.
Europe is the single biggest source market for the Maldives tourism industry with a share of over 50 percent of total arrivals. According to official figures, the European marked observed an year on year increase of 10.7 percent in the first half of this year, with arrivals increasing to 320,162 from 289,234.
Middle East has also become an emerging source market for the Maldives. The market has, however, observed major declines in the first half of the year, with the latest being a nine percent drop in visitor numbers in July. Almost all major Middle Eastern markets posted declines in July, including Saudi Arabia (down 1.6 percent), Qatar (down 93.7 percent) and Egypt (down 23.9 percent).
Singapore-based SilkAir began its operations to the Maldives in 2015. The four times weekly service operated by the regional wing of Singapore Airlines depart out of Singapore on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with same day return flights from Male.
SilkAir’s operations complement Singapore Airlines’ daily flights to the Maldives. Together, SilkAir and Singapore Airlines currently offer a total of twice daily services between Singapore and Male.
Singapore Airlines and SilkAir are favoured by travellers coming to the Maldives from Southeast Asia, which has continued its positive growth trend throughout the year. Countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand has posted strong gains — 1.9 percent, 29.4 percent, 16.6 percent and 18.1 percent respectively — during the first seven months of the year compared to the same period of last year.
Photo: Business Times
Talks with Emirates and SilkAir come as several international airlines gear up for the commencement of operations to the Maldives.
Italy’s flagship carrier Alitalia will start its first ever scheduled direct flights between Italy and the Maldives in October. During the same month, Indian low-cost carrier GoAir will also begin direct flights to the Maldives.
Air France announced late last year that it would begin operating direct flights to the Maldives in November. The airline said it would be offering two weekly flights to the Maldives main Velana International Airport on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
Chinese low-cost carrier Lucky Air is set to begin flight operations to the Maldives in January 2018.
Meanwhile, MACL has announced talks with Bahrain’s Gulf Air to begin its operations to the Maldives.
Plans to improve air connectivity between the Maldives and its major source markets come in light of a USD800 million mega project to expand and upgrade the country’s main airport to cater to at least seven million passengers per annum.
The project involves building a brand new runway, which is expected to be operational by mid-2018, a passenger terminal, a seaplane terminal and support facilities, including a fuel farm that can store 45 million litres and a 120,000 tonne cargo facility.
The airport is a key infrastructure that supports the Maldives multi-billion dollar tourism industry. Expansion of the airport is expected to boost tourist arrivals to the island nation as it aims to attract at least two million tourists by 2020.
Maldives on Thursday welcomed the one millionth tourist to visit this year.
The one millionth tourist is a Thai named Sutapa Amonwivat, who arrived from Singapore with her husband and two children. This is her second visit to Maldives.
Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) and the Ministry of Tourism gave a warm welcome to Sutapa at the Velana International Airport (VIA) Thursday afternoon. She was welcomed at the VIA by tourism minister Ibrahim Faisal, MMPRC Managing Director Ibrahim Shiury and senior officials of various relevant agencies.
After welcoming her with traditional offerings, she was presented with various gifts by the ministry, MMPRC, customs, immigration, Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) and Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA).
Maldives reached one million tourists in June, three weeks earlier than last year. The number of tourists reached one million on July 16, 2023.
Maldives expects to reach 2 million tourists this year.
Chongqing Airlines on Monday began its inaugural flights to Maldives.
The Chongqing-Male route, scheduled three times a week, is expected to strengthen the bonds between China and the Maldives, opening up exciting new opportunities for tourism and cultural exchange.
The inaugural flight was welcomed upon its arrival at Velana International Airport (VIA) in Maldives, where local officials and tourism representatives expressed their enthusiasm for this new development.
“We warmly welcome our friends from China to our beautiful islands. This new connection strengthens our bonds and opens up new opportunities for tourism,” the tourism ministry said on X.
Maldives currently welcomes four airlines from China, including China Eastern, Beijing Capital Airlines, Xiamen Airlines.
In January, Maldives government urged tourism stakeholders in both Maldives and China to ramp up efforts to restore China’s position as the primary source market for Maldives tourism, a status held before the onset of Covid-19.
China, being the largest source market for Maldives tourism before the pandemic, saw a resumption of tourist arrivals from January 2023 after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic. In 2023, the Maldives welcomed 187,118 Chinese tourists, marking a significant recovery in numbers. This year, the Maldives has welcomed the most number of tourists from China, with over 107,940 or 11.5 percent of total arrivals by June 12.
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