Russia's flag carrier and largest airline, Aeroflot, has recommenced its daily flights to Velena International Airport. The first since restarting operations landed around 8:15 a.m., Sunday. The Russian airline which is the only airline that connects the Maldives and Russia directly flies daily from Moscow to the Maldives.
According to travel firms, around 80% of seats on the resumption flight were sold out.
The airline uses an Airbus A330 aircraft with a seating capacity of 300 people. The Maldives' second-largest travel market is Russian with significant increases in yearly arrivals. In consequence of the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, Aeroflot ceased operations on March 8th.