433 tourists arrive in Maldives within first few days of border reopening
20 ޖުލައި 2020 | ހޯމަ 12:13While Maldives halted issuing on-arrival visas on March 27, borders were reopened on July 15
Maldives\' borders were reopened on July 15
Over 400 tourists have arrived in the Maldives, since the country’s borders were reopened for international flights on July 15.
Maldives Immigration officer, Mifthaah Mohamed told RaajjeMV that 433 tourists arrive in the island nation between 15-18 July.
He added that most of the visitors so far have been from the United States and United Kingdom.
While the first international flight that landed at Velana International Airport (VIA) following border reopening after nearly four months of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was a flight of Qatar Airways, over 100 tourists arrived on this flight.
Flight of Etihad Airways and Emirates have since landed at VIA as well, while Sri Lankan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Gulf Air, IndiGo Airline and British Airways have flights scheduled to the island nation.
Further, Edelweiss Air will begin flights to Maldives in September while Turkish Airlines will resume from October.
Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) had previously announced 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.
Maldives Civil Aviation Authority recently publicized the safety guidelines to be followed by airlines operating flights to the country.
Maldives welcomed a record breaking 1,7 million tourist arrivals in 2019, and a two million target was made for 2020. However, following the pandemic, this has been reduced to 850,000 visitors.
