Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) revealed that a total of 12 airlines have sought slots seeking at Velana International Airport (VIA), as the country prepares to reopen borders on the 15th of this month.

As per the flight schedule publicized by MACL, the airlines that requested to travel to the island nation are Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Sri Lankan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Hong Kong Airlines, Gulf Air, IndiGo, British Airways, Edelweiss Air and Turkish Airlines.

While Qatar Airways has a flight scheduled for border reopening day, most of the airlines are to start scheduled flights from August. Edelweiss Air flights are to commence in September while Turkish Airlines is to begin operations in October.

MACL also revealed the decision to provide discounts to flights travelling to the country, from 15 July to 26 March 2021.

As such, airlines operating flights until end of August will not be charged at all, while those that are to begin flight operations between 1 September to 27 October will receive a 75 percent discount. Further, airlines that begin operations after 28 October will be given a 50 percent discount on charges.

While authorities have revealed that VIA fully equipped to handle multiple flights landing daily at the airport, the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority recently publicized the safety guidelines to be followed by airlines operating flights to the country.