VIA saw a record number of air traffic movements on Sunday

Velana International Airport saw the highest record in air traffic movements since border reopening, on Sunday.

In a Twitter post on Monday, Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) under which VIA is operated, revealed that a total of 227 air traffic movements were recorded at VIA on Sunday, November 1.

This included 158 seaplane movements and 69 runway movements, said MACL.

Further, Maldives also saw a record-breaking number of daily arrivals since border reopening on Sunday.

The Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom revealed that 1,582 tourist arrivals were recorded on Sunday which marked a ground-breaking day for the travel and tourism industry since border reopening.

Latest statistics publicized by the Ministry of Tourism reveal that over 21,000 tourist arrivals were recorded during October.

The increase in flight frequencies and tourist arrivals signal optimism in recovering from the Covid-19 situation.

Maldives responded to the escalating situation of Covid-19 by shutting down borders on March 27 following which the country’s tourism industry was at a complete standstill for over three months. The government has been implementing numerous measures against the virus since borders reopened for international travel on July 15.

Since then, over 11 international airlines have resumed flights to the island nation, including Emirates, Qatar Airways, Aeroflot, Air India, British Airways, Edelweiss, Etihad Airways, Indigo, Spicejet, Sri Lankan Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

The tourist arrival rate has been steadily increasing, having reached over 37,000 arrivals since July 15.