South African Airlines has begun operating direct flights between Johannesburg, South Africa and Gan, Maldives on Sunday.
While the first flight landed at Gan International Airport on Sunday morning, the passengers were welcomed at the airport by Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Aishath Nahula, her husband and Parliament Speaker Qasim Ibrahim, Addu City Council’s Mayor Abdulla Sodiq, Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Thoyyib Mohamed.
The flights, which commenced from 02nd December, are allocated to make weekly trips in A340 buses which can accommodate up to 300 tourists every week.
The commencement of these flights were announced in August this year and were to initially begin on the 24th of November, but was delayed.
While over 5,000 tourist arrivals were recorded from South Africa to the Maldives last year, the operation of these flights are expected to bring a hike to tourist arrivals from the region.
