Six year old Maldivian airline MEGA Maldives, on Friday, announced its operations from India. The airline would seek to connect the two capital cities of Delhi and Male and would be the first Maldivian airline to do this.
This means that flyers from North India will save on transit time and halt at any southern India airports en-route to reaching the coral islands and the honeymooning paradise of Maldives.
So far, most flights to Maldive connect south Indian cities like Chennai, Trivandrum, Bangalore and Cochin. "Our efforts for connecting the Indian capital of Delhi and our capital Male had started way back in 2015 as part of bilateral agreements between the two countries," said Ahmed Mohamed, Maldivian ambassador to India.
"In 2013 and 2015, Indian travellers have ranked as the eighth most traveling nation to Maldives. It was the sixth country which sent the most number of tourists to Maldives. In January to August this year, number of Indian passengers to Maldives have increased by 21.4 per cent over the same period last year," said Mohamed, while launching the Maldivian airline at Delhi.
"The prospects in aviation and tourism are very good and both countries stand to benefit from such capital-to-capital connections that could bring trade and tourism between the two countries closer," he added.
Speaking at the launch, George Weinmann, founder and CEO of Mega Maldives Airline, said that the the airline is looking to start connections from India at the same level it had done for Chinese tourists some years back. China is now the number one country that send the most tourists to Maldives now.
"We will be flying our three month old 737-800 between Male and Delhi. It will further connect to Hong Kong. Our aircraft is configured with 12 business class and 156 economy class seats. Passengers will be able to enjoy a host of premium on-board services in the aircraft that has the latest Boeing Sky Interior," said Weinmann.
Promising further action in India, Weinmann said, the airline is looking to launch a direct service between Mumbai and Male in the next few months. "We are approved to start services from Mumbai twice a week. We are also interested in starting services from southern cities and connect them to unusual destinations like Jeddah and Medinah. All expansions will happen in a phased manner," said Weinmann.
The airline is also proposing to start a Delhi-Dhaka route, one sector where it believes there is significant unaddressed demand. The airline is offering economy tickets at a launch price of Rs 22,900 between Male and Delhi on its first flight on November 15. This is significantly lower than its usual ticket price of Rs 26,800 (economy) and Rs 40,000 (business class) travel.
Weinmann said that the airline is open to hosting special occassions like engagements and even honeymoon on air and other such customised arrangements for special groups. The airline has also tied up with some of the famous Maldivian spas and boutique hotels and would be selling their services in India as part of its package tours.
