Two new airlines have commenced operation to Velana International Airport (VIA).
Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) that operates the country’s main international airport said the new airlines that commenced operation to the Maldives this year are Kazakhstan’s Air Astana and Seychelles’ flag carrier, AirSeychelles.
Both airlines’ first scheduled flight to the Maldives arrived on Saturday. MACL’s General Manager, Hassan Raeef said Saturday had been a busy day for the island airport, with 156 arrivals from the Air Astana flight and an additional 30 arrivals via Air Seychelles.
In addition to the two new airlines, British Airways also resumed operation to the Maldives on Saturday. 250 passengers arrived in the Maldives via the airline’s flight on Saturday.
The Maldives closed its borders to tourists earlier in March as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics released by the Tourism Ministry has shown that over 82,000 tourist arrivals have been recorded in the Maldves since the archipelago reopened its borders in July. A total of 465,749 arrivals have been recorded thus far this year.
