The national airline, Maldivian has stated that they would render the transfer of Maldivians based in Coronavirus-infected China free of charge.
Maldivian made these remarks while President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had made the decision for the government to handle return ticket purchases for Maldivians based in five Chinese cities.
The airline stated they would assist transferring Maldivians to the home-country. As such, the flight schedule indicates that individuals located in the city of Xi'an will be arriving on Sunday, whereas those from Chongqing will be arriving on Monday.
Furthermore, while the departure date for those based in Nanjing has been set to Tuesday, those in Chengdu will be departing on Wednesday. In addition, Maldivians in Hangzhou are to arrive in the country on Friday.
While there is opportunity for Maldivians based in these five cities to transfer back to their home-country free of charge, the airline has requested those who wish to return to contact the Maldivian Embassy in China.
While most are being transferred home free of charge, the government is unable to access seven Maldivian residents of the quarantined Wuhan city, where the virus was initially discovered.
Alternatively, the government decided to extend further financial support to these individuals. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet specified the amount provided.
The Maldivian Embassy in China has revealed that there are currently seventy nine Maldivians based in various cities of China.
