The Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation Aishath Nahula, on Monday, declared that efforts ahead would be focused on negating the damage caused to the aviation industry due to the ongoing global COVID19 pandemic.
During her speech delivered to mark 2020’s International Civil Aviation Day, Minister Nahula highlighted the industry’s important role during the health crisis, thanking front-liners for their noble service to enable the transport of essentials and the provision of vital services to and across the country.
Expressing her hopes that the coming year would be one in which the local aviation industry would be able to “recover and rebuild”, Nahula said that she expected that as activity bounced back and grew, so would job opportunities, especially for young people.
“God willing, per previous plans, airline operations will be expanded, with more national airlines ready to fly boarded with Maldivians and travellers to Maldives alike”, said the transport minister.
“Maldivian (airline) made international headlines with its assist to India in establishing their first-ever seaplane operations. In addition, this year, the state has further developed airports. The airports opened this year in the northern and southern regions of Maldives will reap economic benefits for the [associated] atolls. “
Making a nod to one of incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s key electoral pledges with regards to transport, she added, “The administration’s goal is to establish an airport close to all inhabited islands, at a distance that is covered in no more than 30 minutes”.
Following the emergence of the COVID19 virus, in all parts of the world, the impact on the aviation industry, particularly because of the subsequent travel restrictions and the general decline in demand amongst travellers, has been observed to be one of the most significant.
The revenue slump caused by these cancelled flights, reduced passenger numbers, planes flying empty between airports, has resulted in many companies around the world laying off employees or declaring bankruptcy.
Touted by the World Bank as one of the hardest-hit countries (economically) in the region, the Maldivian economy is expected to contract by 29.3 percent by the end of 2020.
As with numerous countries around the world, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Maldives closed its air and sea borders to tourist arrivals from March 27 to July 15.
The restrictions on international travel left Maldives' heavily tourism reliant economy in an extremely vulnerable state. In mid-April, the World Bank projected that Maldives would be the worst-hit economy in the South Asian region due to the pandemic.
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