The national airline of Kazakhstan, Air Astana, started operations to the Maldives on Friday.

A total of 146 passengers arrived in the Maldives onboard the first flight operated by Kazakhstan’s national flag carrier, on Friday.

The airline will be operating three weekly flights to the island nation; on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Earlier, the airline had highlighted that the demand for their flights to Maldives was increasing, with the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) having stated that flight frequency from the airline will be increased in the coming days, although movement is currently restricted due to the season.

MACL stated that it is a great success that new airlines are operating flights to Maldives and that the hard work of officials working in the tourism industry is behind this success.

Since the country reopened borders after a little over three months since halting the issuance of on-arrival visas on March 27, several international airlines have been launching flight operations to the popular tropical destination, with some airlines increasing flight frequencies to daily flights as well.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, over 15 airlines currently operate passenger flights to Maldives, Emirates airline holding the highest spot, having carried 21,624 passengers since resuming flights.

Recently, Air Seychelles also began operating flights to the island nation, and British Airways announced its decision to increase flights to Maldives.

Some of the airlines that are scheduled to begin operations to the country include Rossiya Airline, Gulf Air, Air France, Nordwind, Azur Air Russia as well as Alitalia among many others.