Shamheed: Government remains idle as airlines creating high-level jobs for Maldivians continue to fail

Dr. Ahmed Shamheed, the Member of Parliament for the South Hulhumale' constituency, has expressed concern over Manta Air's decision to discontinue its domestic flight operations and transition exclusively to seaplane services. Manta Air is currently one of the three airlines providing domestic air travel within the Maldives.

In a post on X regarding the matter, Shamheed stated that the potential collapse of Manta Air’s services is a matter of extreme concern. He further noted that it is irresponsible for the government to remain silent and fail to take action while airlines that create high-level employment opportunities for Maldivians are allowed to fail.

According to news reports, Manta Air has decided to completely phase out its ATR aircraft operations within the next three to six months. Local media outlets report that the airline reached this decision due to restricted opportunities for expanding its operations in a profitable manner.

With this change, concerns have been raised that a significant number of employees could face job losses if Manta Air decides to decommission the ATR aircraft currently in its fleet.

Manta Air is an airline that has earned significant public trust within a short period in the Maldivian domestic aviation sector. Consequently, many believe that the suspension of the airline's domestic scheduled flights will have a detrimental impact on the country's overall transportation network.