Maldives’ national carrier, Maldivian is aiming to replace all Dash-8 aircrafts on its fleet with ATRs by 2027, the company's Managing Director Ibrahim Iyas has said.
Speaking during the ceremony to mark the arrival of Maldivian’s fifth ATR aircraft, Iyas said the decision to procure ATRs was prompted by the increased downtime and maintenance costs of its Dash-8 fleet.
The latest addition is a 46-seat ATR 42-600 variant which added to the previous four secured from January 2023.
"We will continue this until all Dash-8 aircrafts are replaced with ATRs. We are expecting to complete this process by 2027,” he explained.
"Our technical reliability has now been greatly improved with the introduction of these brand new aircraft. At the same time, we have greatly improved our on-time performance. Since this is a state-of-the-art cabin, the passenger experience will also be significantly enhanced.”
Maldivian currently operates a fleet of 25 aircraft. These include a wide-body Airbus A330, a narrow-body Airbus A320, four ATRs, nine Dash-8s, and 11 Dash-6 twin-otter aircraft.
The government aims to expand its services to new international destinations, and is working to acquire additional wide-body aircraft to the national airline, in line with President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s pledges.