Minister of Transport Mohamed Ameen has announced plans to acquire two new wide-body aircrafts to Maldivian Airline's fleet, and launch international flight operations to seven destinations.
Speaking with Mihaaru News, the Minister said that after the paper submitted by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation was passed at the cabinet meeting on Sunday, December 17, efforts to acquire the aircraft are moving swiftly.
"The wide-body aircraft operations are expected to commence in the upcoming six months. Initially, we are focusing on launching direct flight operations to three Chinese cities, South Africa's Johannesburg, and three more cities in Europe," the minister said.
He added that the ministry was now be working on finalizing the European cities to which Maldivian would operate.
The wide-bodies can carry 275 passengers per flight, and allows transportation for longer routes as well.
Earlier, Maldivian launched international operations using Airbus commercial aircraft to South Africa and China. However, these planes were not suitable for longer routes, requiring transits at other destinations, rendering the overall operation non-feasible in the long run.
Currently, Maldivian boasts 14 planes on its fleet which include one Airbus A320 and two ATRs. The remaining older Dash-8 Twin Otters are now being slowly replaced by the airline.
President's Office Spokesperson Mohamed Shaheeb said that the government has decided on launching international flight operations to boost Maldives tourism.
"The government has decided to arrange the funding for Island Aviation through the applicable financing facility under the Ministry of Finance to purchase the wide-body aircraft for the operations," Shaheeb said.
The cabinet further decided to mandate the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lead in making arrangements for international flight operations.
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