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Gulf Air to resume direct flights to Maldives in December

Ahmed Aiham
04 November 2020, MVT 19:56
The first flight from Bahrain's national carrier that landed in Maldives. PHOTO: GULF AIR
Ahmed Aiham
04 November 2020, MVT 19:56

Bahrain's national airline 'Gulf Air' announced plans to resume direct flights to Maldives from December 12 onwards.

According to the airline, Gulf Air will operate two weekly flights to Velana International Airport (VIA) on its newest Airbus 321neoLR, capable of seating 150 in its economy class and 16 on flat-bed seats on its Falcon Gold class.

The Maldivian government is aiming for half a million tourist arrivals by the year-end. Till now, the country has recorded over 420,000 arrivals.

Minister of Tourism Dr Abdulla Mausoom had earlier expressed hopes for the industry's recovery amid the COVID-10 pandemic, estimating that 100,000 tourists would visit Maldives after borders reopened.

In order to reach the estimated total of 500,000 arrivals for the year, Maldives roughly requires 78,000 additional arrivals.

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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