Maldives has welcomed the inaugural flight of India’s cargo carrier, Afcom Cargo, marking a significant milestone in the efforts to expand air cargo services in the island nation.
This marks the first time a cargo airline has launched scheduled flights to the Maldives.
The inaugural Afcom Cargo flight from Chennai, India, carrying 20 tonnes of cargo arrived at the country’s main airport, Velana International Airport (VIA) on Saturday morning.
“The shipment will seamlessly connect to an Etihad flight scheduled for departure later today [Saturday],” VIA operator Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) announced on X.
MACL said Afcom Cargo will operate three flights a week to the Maldives to complement the cargo charter flights already operating to VIA.
MACL said efforts are already underway to further expand air cargo services, adding that it will establish agreements with major airlines to connect shipments flown in by Afcom Cargo.
With the launch of scheduled air-to-air cargo services by Afcom, MACL is looking to expand air-to-air cargo services through VIA. The airport’s stake in the global air cargo chain will provide a much needed revenue injection to the country’s economy, MACL added.
Maldives currently facilitates the export of goods from three countries through its sea-to-air cargo services.
The sea-to-air cargo service is a joint venture between the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL), MACL, the Maldives Customs Service, and Maldives State Shipping (MSS), where the Maldives acts as a transit hub to ensure the swift and timely air delivery of goods brought to the Maldives via sea.
Establishing Maldives as a transit cargo hub is part of incumbent President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s vision to diversify the country’s tourism dependent economy.
Under this initiative, VIA has more than doubled its cargo handling capacity with the new cargo terminal inaugurated in January last year.
The newly inaugurated cargo terminal has a capacity to handle 120,000 tonnes of cargo per year. The cargo terminal is two times larger than the old cargo terminal used at the airport, which handles 50,000 tonnes of cargo per year.
The government has planned to boost capacity to 300,000 tonnes in the next four years.