The number of charter airlines operating flights to the Maldives have more than doubled compared to pre-Covid figures, the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) announced Wednesday.

According to the main airport operator, eight airlines currently operate charters to the Velana International Airport (VIA), including:

• Azur Air
• Gullivair
• LOT Polish
• Ukraine International
• Scat Airlines
• Uzbekistan Airways
• Blu Air
• Mongolian Airlines

Russia’s Nordwind and European Klasjet are set to begin charter operations in the coming weeks.

“We believe this will have a positive impact on tourism across the nation,” a tweet by MACL read.

Maldives achieved its annual tourist arrival target of one million in October and is on course to welcome 1.3 million tourists by year end.

Maldives reopened its borders for tourists of all nationalities on July 15, 2020, with rigorous procedures in place to ensure the safety of tourists and tourism workers.

Tourists are required to fill an online health declaration form within 24 hours prior to their departure, as well as have a negative PCR test result, conducted 96 hours prior to their departure.

In order to strengthen the measures, the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine was initiated on February 1 with the government of Maldives set to provide free Covid-19 vaccines to all citizens and residents of the country in the upcoming months.

Visit Maldives together with the tourism ministry has also launched the “I’m Vaccinated” campaign in order to share a positive message regarding the vaccination of staff working in the tourism sector as well as promoting the initiatives undertaken to ensure the Maldives remains one of the safest destinations in the world for travellers.

The ultimate target is to make Maldives the destination with the first fully vaccinated tourism sector in the world.