The Sri Lankan government has given the national airline of Maldives the permit to operate direct flights to Colombo.
The decision was made at a meeting held between the Tourism Minister of Maldives, Moosa Zameer and the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Sri Lanka Nimal Siripala de Silva. The meeting between the Ministers was held as part of the ongoing visit of the Minister Zameer to Sri Lanka.
During the meeting, the Tourism Minister thanked the Sri Lankan Minister and the Sri Lankan government for issuing the permit for the national carrier to begin direct operations to Colombo. He also noted the importance of strengthening the aviation sector between the two countries. The discussions during the meeting also focused on providing technical cooperation in strengthening aviation sector of both countries.
The meeting was attended by Maldivian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Zahiya Zareer, Chief Executive of Maldives Civil Aviation Authority Hussein Jaleel and the Managing Director of Island Aviation Services limited Abdul Haris.
With a fleet size of 20, the national airline, Maldivian, already flies to destinations in India, Bangladesh, Thailand and China.