Ambassador of Maldives to China Dr Fazeel Najeeb has expressed confidence that Maldives’ national airline, Maldivian’s launch of its wide-body operations to China would be a major success due to the increasing demand for Maldives tourism in China.
Maldivian has launched direct flights to Chinese capital Beijing after inaugurating its wide-body operations to Chengdu earlier this week.
Maldivian commenced long-haul operations to China with its newest acquisition, the wide-body Airbus A330-200.
In an exclusive interview with PSM News, Dr Fazeel said the volume of tourists in the China market would provide huge demand for Maldivian flight operations, adding that the long-awaited initiative would also provide a major boost to the island nation’s economy.
"Even if it has taken a while in the making, I would say it's a really good thing we have launched this initiative. The most important thing is to keep this going. The China market is not a market where we won’t get enough passengers,” he explained.
“This is the largest middle class market in the world. So if we concentrate our efforts here and maintain this service, this will be a very successful sector for Maldivian.”
The Ambassador also noted that the Chinese media follows the developments of the Maldives very closely and urged the public to cooperate with the efforts of Maldivian adding that this was a matter of great national pride for the whole country.
In conjunction with the introduction of the Airbus A330-200, Maldivian has announced a special promotional fare. According to Maldivian, promotional fares are 30% to 50% lower than current fare rates in China. Passengers would also get 40kg baggage allowance and in-flight meals on the special fare.
The new Airbus A330-200, with a seating capacity of 264 passengers, offers three cabin classes: economy, business, and premium. The acquisition fulfils an electoral commitment by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu to introduce two wide-body aircraft for Island Aviation Services Ltd., the operator of Maldivian. The government also plans to acquire an additional wide-body aircraft and initiate flights to European destinations by October this year.