Maldivian to start new flights

NEW DELHI: Maldivian, the national airlines of the island nation, would start flying from Chennai and Mumbai this month and from Delhi next year, providing direct connectivity to Male for passengers, primarily tourists and honeymooners.

While the Chennai-Male flight would be launched on November 15, the service from Mumbai would start the next day, the airline Chairman Bandhu Ibrahim Saleem said here today.

Operations to and from Delhi would begin from April or May next year after the airline, which currently has one Airbus A-320 and a few Bombardier Dash-8s, gets its second A- 320, he said.

"Maldivian will receive its second A-320 in March or April next year. This aircraft will be used to operate flights to Delhi," Saleem said, adding the services on Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai sectors would be three each per week.

The airline would get its third A-320 in October, 2013 when "we will look to increase the frequency of flights to the cities where the airline operates," he said, adding it would help in substantial improvement in the carriage of Indian travellers to the Maldives.

Maldivian already operates two Dash-8 flights a day between Thiruvananthapuram and Male, primarily carrying Indian contract labour and patients.

The start of the new flights would also provide an opportunity for transporting goods by air between India and the Maldives, with the A-320 carrying 3-4 tonnes of cargo on each flight.