Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Mohamed Ameen has stated that tickets for domestic air travel in Maldives are currently not according to expenses, and that there are obstacles in lowering the ticket prices.

While answering a question posed by an MP during today's Parliament sitting, the minister said that the ATR planes used for domestic flights in Maldives require major expenses to operate, and that ticket prices in Maldives are not higher than the operational costs. He said that ticket prices have not been raised even though fuel prices have gone up due to the war in the Middle East.

"Ticket fares at airlines all over the world have gone up by around 30 to 40 percent because of fuel prices having spiked due to the war in the Middle East. However, with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's decisions, expenses have been managed in other ways. Citizens have not seen any price increments, and maintaining the prices to this day has been quite the challenging task," said Ameen.

According to the minister, it is difficult to lower ticket prices in Maldives due to a lack of passengers. He went on to say that because of these reasons, lowering ticket prices will be an obstacle to many.

"In regards to Maldives' transportation system, especially the air transport system, there are challenges because there is a lack of passengers, a need for efficient operations. The reality is, lowering ticket prices will be quite challenging for all involved," said Ameen.

Even though domestic travel fare in Maldives was not raised with fuel prices having gone up due to the Middle East war, national airline Maldivian increased ticket prices for tourists in April.

A senior official from Island Aviation told Mihaaru News at the time that the ticket prices for tourists were increased because the price of jet fuel being sold by MACL at Velana International Airport was being increased. 

At the time, the price of jet fuel was increased in Maldives from USD 1.19 to USD 1.99.