18 airlines will resume flight operations to Maldives by the end of November, says Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom.

In a Twitter post the minister stated that currently, 12 airlines are operating flights to Maldives, since the country opened borders for international travel on July 15.

He added that by the end of November at least 18 airlines will connect Maldives to the globe.

Following permission from the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the government approved split stay at all types of tourist accommodation facilities last week, which allowed tourists to split their stay between resorts, hotels, guesthouses as well as liveaboard vessels with prior approval as per split-stay procedures and guidelines issued by the ministry.

Shedding light on this development, the minister urged on all tourists to abide by the split-stay procedure and guidelines provided by the authorities.

The enthusiastic minister added that “it is time to visit or revisit Maldives”.

Earlier, authorities had also extended the validity time for negative PCR certification from 72 hours to 96 hours prior to tourist arrival in the Maldives.

Latest statistics publicized by the ministry reveal that a total of 31,801 tourist arrivals were recorded by October 21 alongside 958 flight movements. During July, Maldives recorded 1,752 tourist arrivals with a daily average of 117 arrivals. The following month, 7,628 tourists arrived which is a -94.5 percent growth.

From the beginning of October until the 21st, a total of 12,934 tourists have arrived in the island nation.

The country observed 382,760 tourist arrivals until March 27, when the border was closed. Maldives recorded a total of 414,648 tourist arrivals from January 1 to October 21.