Singapore Airlines on late Sunday launched its Boeing 787 Dreamliner service to Maldives in efforts to promote and expand the country's tourism.
The first Dreamliner flight to Maldives was warmly received with a water salute at Velana International Airport (VIA).
Singapore Airlines General Manager to Maldives Ahmed Zuhri, Acting Managing Director of Maldives Airports Company (MACL) Moosa Solih and Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Thoyyib Mohamed were in attendance at the inaugural ceremony.
According to General Manager Zuhri, the purpose of launching the Dreamliner service to Maldives was to further expand promotion of tourism to various countries across the world. He specified that the service would allow promotion in countries such as South Korea, America, Australia, China, Japan and Singapore.
"Our Dreamliner travels to various destinations across the world. The most significant purpose behind introducing the service is to allow Maldives to market its tourism. Accordingly, we will work to promote tourism to six markets internationally".
The Dreamliner operates in 140 destinations world-wide. The newly introduced flights to and from Maldives is scheduled at night time.
MMPRC Managing Director Thoyyib declared that comparing tourism statistics to previous years reveal that the sector has flourished in 2019, and expressed hope that the introduction of the Dreamliner would result in even more significant improvement.
He highlighted the expansion of Maldives' tourism to the Chinese market in particular.
"This year has proven highly successful to Maldives' tourism. The tourism statistics for the window of January to June 2019 depict a 19 percent increase over the same timeframe for previous years. We hope that this service will lead to further expansion of the sector", said Thoyyib.
The Singapore Airlines Dreamliner series feature 36 seats for business class and 301 seats for economy.